World Children's Transplant Center
Veronica House USA
The World Children's Transplant Center-Veronica House
U.S.A. will accommodate living facilities for eight, a reception area, a
training multimedia center accommodating up to 250 people, a fully
up-to-date medical transplantation reference library, a conference room and
the World Headquarters Office of the World Children's Transplant Fund (WCTF).
The facility will be within walking distance of St. Vincent Medical Center
and provide a sterile environment for recuperating transplant recipients in
a warm and loving atmosphere.
The WCTF, in partnership with St. Vincent Medical Center,
is seeking financial support to build the World Children's Transplant
Center-Veronica House U.S.A. in downtown Los Angeles. Support of this
project will provide lifesaving capabilities benefitting children in need in
Southern California, the U.S.A. and around the world.
The mission of the World Children's Transplant Fund (WCTF)
is to provide the opportunity for lifesaving pediatric transplant surgery to
children of the world. The WCTF presently has one center, Fundacion Mundial
de Transplantes Para Niños Costa Rica.
The WCTF was founded by Mark Kroeker in 1988 after a desperate attempt to save the life of an
11-year-old Argentinean girl, Veronica Arguello, who was dying of liver
disease. Chief Kroeker brought Veronica and her family to the U.S. where
fundraising efforts collected a sufficient amount for Veronica to be placed
on the national waiting list. He then enlisted the help of the Hospital for
Sick Children and Dr. Ricardo Superina in Toronto to perform the operation.
In March 1988 a liver became available and Veronica
underwent surgery. Her body rejected the organ. In a matter of hours another
transplant was performed, again with no success. On March 6, 1988, a third
and final liver transplant was performed. Veronica did not survive. Her
mother asked Chief Kroeker to continue his efforts to help children like
Veronica so that her death would not be in vain.
The WCTF's strategy includes establishing World Children's
Transplant Centers in regional site locations of key population centers
around the world and focuses on developing centers to preexisting medical
facilities in each of the selected site locations. The goal is to assist
nations in sustaining independent pediatric organ transplant programs. This
will enable children of foreign lands to remain in their native environment
with family and friends while awaiting the transplant process.
The City of Los Angeles is the ideal location for the
World Children's Transplant Center-Veronica House U.S.A. Its diverse
population and outreach capability will affect children in Southern
California, the U.S.A. and around the world. WCTF strategy includes creating
strategic alliances in local ethnic communities to help raise funds to
create self-sufficient centers around the world.
Dr. Leonard Makowka, head of St. Vincent Medical Center
Comprehensive Liver Disease and Treatment Center and a WCTF Medical Advisory
Board member, has recommended that St. Vincent Medical Center be the
potential site for the World Children's Transplant Center and Veronica House
U.S.A. St. Vincent Medical Center, the first hospital in Los Angeles,
celebrating its 140th birthday this year, has agreed to consider the
donation of a parcel of land located at 4th and Grandview Streets one block
south of the hospital, to the WCTF.
The WCTF will be responsible for the management and
operation of the World Children's Transplant Center. The World Headquarters
office of the WCTF will be housed at the center. Activities of the World
Headquarters include overseeing office operations, establishing regional,
national and international public awareness campaigns, and conducting
community fundraising efforts to support the WCTF Development Triad as
described below:
TRAINING:
The Training component incorporates the development of
human resources including surgeons, support staff, coordinators, and
ancillary organ procurement personnel. This component develops the education
necessary to perform pediatric organ transplants by allowing for hands on
surgical experience in all areas of organ transplantation. Seminars,
conventions, congresses, periodicals, and tapes are also covered through
training.
TECHNOLOGY:
The Technology component includes establishing fully
operational pediatric organ transplant centers. This is accomplished through
the acquisition of necessary medical and technical equipment utilized in
pediatric organ transplant surgery. The Technology component further
includes:
Regional organ procurement software to provide a
network for donor matching and organ sharing through an automated
telecommunication organ and donor registry.
International satellite communication between regional
pediatric transplant facilities and the United States, to provide for
efficient audio-visual training and the transfer of technology and
communications.
TEACHING:
The Teaching component includes the Public Awareness
Campaign designed to educate the populace regarding pediatric organ
transplantation. This component further includes publicity through print,
radio, television, on-line services, and other audio-visual mediums.
The WCTF is dedicated to creating greater organ donor
awareness via Public Service Announcements and events generating media
exposure. This further educates people about the need and importance of
becoming an organ donor. Results are measured by an increase in organ
donation.
Downtown Los Angeles represents a cross section of the
world's population. More than 160 languages are spoken in the City of Los
Angeles. Its urban, ethnic and socioeconomic components perfectly compliment
the mission of the WCTF "to provide the opportunity for lifesaving
pediatric organ transplants to children of the world."
VERONIA HOUSE USA
Part of the vision of the World Children's Transplant
Fund (WCTF) is to build a Veronica House in each of the countries in which
it operates - including the US. These centers serve a variety of
functions. It is a place where children and their families can con to live
while waiting for a qualified organ donor can be found. It also serves as
a library/conference center for doctors to study and exchange information
on the most recent transplantation medical procedures. Additionally the
Veronia House is a communications center for patient and donor matching,
using an advanced computer system operating across the globe.
Veronica House, Costa Rica will be opening its doors
late this year. WCTF is currently in the process of developing such a
center in Los Angeles, California, USA. The following is an
architectural rendering for the external of a Veronica House center.
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