Russia: Magee

Magee Womancare International Russian Publications

In March 1992, Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania began an unprecedented program to improve health care conditions for women and infants in the former Soviet Union. Working in partnership with the second largest hospital in Moscow, Savior's Hospital for Peace and Charity (formerly Municipal Hospital #70), Magee-Womens Hospital is proud to be one of the 21 American hospitals participating in the U.S. AID's health partnerships program of the American International Health Alliance.

The Magee-Savior's partnership is also a recipient of an estimated $3 million dollars in medical equipment distributed to the former Soviet Union through the U.S. State Department's Operation Provide Hope.

In January, 1994, Hillary Clinton and Naina Yeltsin chose the Magee-Savior's partnership as a primary site to visit and discuss efforts in health care reform for women and children in Russia. In July, 1994, Jane Fonda along with Naina Yeltsin and Alice Pickering selected the Magee-Savior's partnership as a place to learn more about the status of women in the former Soviet Union.

In September, 1994, the World Learning PVO/NIS Project awarded Magee Womancare International a two-year grant to replicate its women's education in 24 regions of Russia.

In May, 1995, the United Nations Commission on Refugees in Russia awarded a grant to the Magee-Savior's Family Planning Clinic to provide health services to the refugee population living in the Moscow region. Magee has since expanded its UN collaboration to include work with nearly 4,000 refugee women and children in and around Moscow in the areas of general medical care, family planning, and health education.

In July, 1995, the Magee-Savior's partnership began replication of its family planning clinic to 18 regions of Russia with an emphasis on teen health. This Womancare Clinic network (WON) is supported by grants from USAID through Save the Children and the Open Society of the Soros Foundation.

In 1996, Magee Womancare International moved beyond the borders of Russia into Belarus, to begin a hospital partnership initiative in the capital, Minsk, focusing on improved women's health, pediatric care and nurse management and training. The Minsk partnership will operate using many of the models already developed by Magee-Savior's partnership.

In 1997, Magee and the Avon Foundation will begin an unprecedented program to bring health care information to Russian women and their families through a series of info-mercials which will be distributed over nationwide television. Brochures and printed Magee-Avon educational materials will accompany the health information campaign and be distributed through Magee's network of 25 consumer health education centers. The Magee-Savior's program will begin a new phase of its partnership in 1997 with the development of the Women's Wellness Initiative supported by the American International Health Alliance. The Wellness Initiative will expand the services provided at the Magee-Savior's Family Planning Clinic to include menopause and infertility education and treatment.

As a world leader in women's health, Magee-Women's Hospital is responding to the needs of Russian women:

to develop a culturally-sensitive model of improved obstetric care which can be easily and economically replicated throughout the former Soviet Union.

to develop a model consumer and community education program for women and their families

to strengthen health care administration

to encourage the growth of the Russian voluntary sector as it pertains to women's issues.

Results, 1992-1996

Legal registration of the Russian non-profit "Women and Family Foundation," the first non-government fundraising arm affiliated with a Russian hospital.

Establishment of the "Women and Family Center"; opened July 1993, innovative education programs to Russian women and their families. Currently offering childbirth preparation, general health, family planning, infant massage and sibling classes. 6 childbirth educators trained and registered with the International Childbirth Educators Association (ICEA) serving the eastern region of Moscow and two outlying rural areas: presently averaging 400 Russian women per week. Over 15,000 Russians have registered in programs of the Women and Family Center.

Printing and distribution of educational materials: Pregnancy Guide and Calendar, Family Planning, Conception, Non-Profit Fundraising Guide, Women's Health brochures and Breast Self-Exam cards. Video productions include "Your and Your New Baby", "Puberty", "Partners in Birth", "A Time to Grow", and "It's Up to You".

Joint construction planning and funding obtained for renovated birth house with Western standards and a model of improved obstetric care. Target: 3,000 births and 350 Russian obstetricians trained annually.

150 Russian professionals trained in basic infection control technique.

Over 250 Russian professionals trained in family-centered childbirth model at Savior's Hospital and Moscow Birth House #8.

40 exchange trips resulting in over 3,800 clinical training hours in obstetrics and gynecology.

Model of new health care administration: management training and planning practice, over 600 training hours.

Dissemination Conference offered February 2 & 3, 1994 in collaboration with the Moscow Main Medical Administration: Partners in Birth, the Role of Labor Support in the Medical Management of Labor. 250 Russian obstetricians and midwives in attendance.

Co-sponsorship of the Moscow Celebration of Women, May, 1994. Speakers, workshops, and exhibits for Russian women. Guest speakers included Ella Pamfelova, Minister of Social Welfare for the Russian Federation. 450 women in attendance.

October, 1994, sponsorship of the Moscow Update in Obstetrics and Gynecology in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine and the Moscow Main Medical Administration. 300 Russian physicians in attendance.

Rural Outreach to Russia (ROR) project. A two year program which will result in a network of 24 independent women's health education centers throughout Russia. It will do so by training 48 health professionals in the areas of consumer education; training-the-trainer; education center design and management; and fundraising and community involvement. Target: 200,000 clients annually.

Established first teenage adolescent sexuality program in Moscow Public Schools through the Women and Family Education Center with attendant teen clinic hours at the Magee-Savior's Woman and Family Planning Center. Russian Womancare Clinic Network (WON). Will establish and operate 18 education centers to jointly form community health packages. Target: 95,000 clients annually.

United Nations Refugee Relief Program. An innovative program to extend family planning services and improved health care to the refugee population living in and around Moscow. Target: 4000 refugee women annually.

June, 1995, sponsorship of the Hospital Management Seminar at Savior's Hospital. Russian physicians, nurse managers and administrators were trained in finance, hospital administration, and human resources. 75 health care providers in attendance.

Clinical Training of Savior's Hospital and Birth House #8 staff in July, 1995. Topics included the family-centered model of care, labor and delivery, infection control, and pediatrics. 50 physicians, nurses, and midwives trained.

September, 1995, opening of the first Women's Ambulatory Care Center in Moscow. The center includes the Woman and Family Education Center, the Magee-Savior's Family Planning Clinic and an obstetrics unit which will be fully operational in early 1996.

Co-sponsorship of the Second Annual Moscow Celebration of Women, September, 1995. Speakers, workshops, and exhibits for Russian women. 600 women in attendance.

September, 1995, sponsorship of the first ASPO/Lamaze Training Seminar in the former Soviet Union. Over 50 Russian childbirth educators and health care administrators from 13 regions of Russia participated.

Academy for Educational Development (AED) Women's Health Follow-On Training in October, 1995. 3-day seminars were conducted in Moscow and Novosibirsk to train 19 Russian health care providers and administrators in models of family planning management, counseling and professional development.

November, 1995, first training for the Soros-Magee Adolescent Health Network. 16 Health educators representing 12 regions of Russia completed the program.

Academy for Educational Development (AED) training in Health Care NGOs, April, 1996. A 3-day seminar was held in Moscow to train 18 Russian NGO leaders in marketing, fundraising, financial management, and strategic planning.

July, 1997, Registration of the first Russian National Association of Childbirth Educators (RACE). RACE will serve as a clearinghouse, resource and fundraising mechanism for Consumer Education Centers across Russia.

September, 1996, Second Annual Russian ASPO/Lamaze Conference in Smolensk, Russia. 5-day seminar brought over 60 Russian childbirth educators from 25 regions of Russia for professional development training and networking.

November, 1996, Training in Vladimir, Russia for 20 health professionals in non- traditional sources of fundraising and public relations.

November, 1996, Training for 30 Czech health care professionals in public relations, marketing and womancare model.

Russian Government Support

The Magee-Savior's partnership is supported by the Moscow Main Medical Administration. A certification program for educators and labor support personnel trained by the Woman and Child Center is offered through Dr. Yuri Bloshanakii, Chief Obstetrician/Gynecologist, City of Moscow. The Administration has provided the ruble equivalent of $2 million in support of birth house reconstruction.

The Magee-Savior's partnership is personally endorsed by Vice Minister of Health Vaganov, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.

The Magee-Savior's partnership is personally endorsed by Mrs. Naina Yeltsin.

The Ministry of Health for the Russian Federation provides transportation and accommodations for participants in the Rural Outreach to Russia and Womancare Clinic Program, an in-kind donation of $75,000 annually.

Professional Training Programs

MWI and Savior's Hospital offer the following courses to Russian health care professionals in the United States and Russia:

Practical Financing in the Health Care Sector

Family Planning Center Development, Operation and Administration

Communications and Marketing: A Model for Health Care Services

Consumer Education Center Development

Patient-Focused Western Model of Care

Hospital Management Training

U.S. Contacts:

Magee-Womens Hospital
300 Halket Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Irma Goertzen, President & CEO - 412/641-4010
Tanya Kotys, Director - 412/641-1189
Melissa Zahniser, Program Coordinator

Russian Contacts:

Savior's Hospital for Peace and Charity
17 Federativnil Prospekt
Moscow, Russia 111399
Alexander Goldberg, M.D., President - 304-49-39

Woman and Family Education Center - 301-15-02
Galya Shaldyonkova, M.D., Medical Director

Magee-Savior's Family Planning Clinic - 176-38-24
Yelena Burtseva, M.D., Director

Magee Womancare International Field Office - 918-43-31
Pamela Deligiannis, Field Administrator