Mtskheta-Mtianeti Community Commemorates Region's First Primary Healthcare Center

The Mtskheta-Mtianeti/Milwaukee partners celebrated the opening of a model Primary Healthcare Center on February 26. The Center will play a central role in the development of a community- and family-oriented primary healthcare system in the region. The first of its kind in Georgia, the Center will offer a wide range of primary healthcare programs, including diagnostic and enhanced laboratory services, to the local community while serving as a training resource for physician, nurses, and other healthcare professionals throughout the region. In addition, the Center will combine adult and child preventive and curative services, and through its health promotion program, support healthy lifestyles, disease prevention, and greater patient involvement in personal care.

Koba Buchukury, governor of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, and Fred Tavill, director of the Milwaukee International Health Training Center, cut the ribbon officially opening the Mtskheta-Mtianeti Primary Healthcare Center.

More than 200 people attended the opening ceremony, including Georgia's Minister of Labor, Health, and Social Issues, Avtandil Jorbenadze; the Governor of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, Koba Buchukury; the Mayor of Mtskheta, Andro Kalandadze; and USAID/Tbilisi Director of the Office for Humanitarian Response and Social Transition, Kent Larson. Also present at the event were US partnership representatives, John R. Petersen, president, and Frederick Tavill, director, of the Milwaukee International Health Training Center; Jim Smith, AIHA's executive director; and Liviu Vedrasco, director of international medical programs at Carelift International.

Patients will receive many of the services offered by the new Center at no charge because of the government funding the Center received. Local financial support contributed to the costs of extensive renovations carried out at the Center. In addition, Carelift International played a significant role in the shipping and installation of the Center's equipment and furnishings.

One unique feature of the PHC Center is that it will provide its staff with access to modern medical information, opportunities to enhance their professional skills, and a way interact and communicate with US partner through the use of a Learning Resource Center that is located on the premises.

The Mtskheta-Mtianeti/Milwaukee partners will continue to work to improve and expand the range of services offered by the Center. The partners also plan to replicate the Mtskheta model throughout the region.

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