Excerpt from November 11, 2003 to UGOL Board and benefactors:

Operation CHILD CARDIO CARE in Ukraine has met with such great success. Through the strong, cooperative relationship between Stephanie Andre, who conducts the program in the US and Dr. Mykola Konyk, president of CARDIO, an increasing number of pediatric cardiac surgeries are being performed in Lviv at a success rate comparable to US standards.

OpCOT has provided yet another Ukrainian cardiologist with the opportunity for first hand observation and training at two noted Philadelphia area hospitals. Under the leadership of Theodore Kurman who directs the program, the support of the Ukrainian community in Philadelphia provided a good learning experience for Dr. Kuryliak, which she brought back with her to Ukraine and shared with other cardiologists and hospital staff. We have established a relationship with Hope Children’s Hospital in Chicago to provide the opportunity for two months of hands-on licensed training for cardiologists and surgeons. The Ukrainian community in Chicago has already offered to provide the logistical support for candidates.

Operation CHILD CARDIO CARE US continues to enjoy strong relationships with Rotary and area hospitals. Because of the success of this program in the last few years, we have seen a decline in the number of older children coming to the US for complex surgery, meaning that we are cutting into the backlog of cases left over from the Soviet era. More and more of the candidates are under the age of two, which is the best time for children with congenital heart defects to have surgery.

We are grateful for the generosity of a multitude of benefactors, throughout the US who have contributed useable, technologically supportable equipment and consumables through our program OpCURES. This year, the value of these items shipped to Ukraine will be the largest in our history. On a recent trip to Ukraine, we witnessed the cataloging and control of the consumables to insure their benefit directly to families in need.

Ihor Shevchuk, who has developed this web site, has added photos of our recent Host Family Tour and the gathering of over 500 siblings and family members of children who have received surgery either in the US or Ukraine. They came from as far as 1200 miles to demonstrate their gratitude to God and to you.

We are grateful for the opportunity to undertake the refurbishment and construction of a post operative care unit for children at the Lviv Surgical Center in 2004. Although the cost of this project will approach $150,000, it will provide the ability for the surgical team at the hospital to undertake to perform more complex surgeries for children under the age of two. This is a giant step in attaining our goal of self-sufficiency of the medical profession in Ukraine in the area of pediatric cardiology.