Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund

Get the latest information on CCRF in the US-NIS Organizations section of the Website.

In 1991 following the election of longtime political prisoner Vyacheslav Chornovil as governor of the Lviv oblast, CCRF negotiated with officials in Lviv to take over the Party hospital. CCRF has equipped the 160-bed hospital with medical equipment that was out-of-date in the U.S. but modern enough by Ukrainian standards. Siemens recently contributed a $2 million state-of-the-art MRI machine. CCRF has helped organize visits by more than 100 American physicians to Lviv and other hospitals around the coun try, where they have trained local doctors in Western techniques. Volunteers have also equipped a dental clinic at the Lviv hospital and established a dental training program.

At first the reorganized hospital specialized in serving children suffering from radiation related illnesses, including leukemia and Hodgkin�s disease. In August 1992 CCRF, the Lviv Regional Government, and the Lviv Medical Institute agreed to transform the hospital into a regional teaching hospital. The new institution is governed by a board of directors that is half Ukrainian, half American. CCRF will remain the owner of the equipment it has donated and will continue to provide medicines, equipment a nd supplies. In addition CCRF has brought Ukrainian physicians to train in U.S. medical institutions.

Since 1989 CCRF has sent more than 700 tons of medical equipment, valued at more than $30 million to Ukraine. It sponsors three additional hospitals in Kiiv and Kharkiv.

Contact:

Nadia Matkiwsky, Executive Director
Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund
272 Old Short Hills Road
Short Hills, NJ 07078
Tel: (201) 376-5140
Fax: (201) 376-4988

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