Chevron grant to strengthen patient care throughout Romania

HOUSTON - (Feb. 21, 2014) - Chevron, the global health nonprofit AmeriCaresand the Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas Children's Hospital (BIPAI), have teamed up to address the gap in health care resources in Romania through strengthened patient care and increased access to life-saving medications.


Chevron Romania has made a multi-year commitment to AmeriCares and BIPAI's Romanian NGO affiliate, the Baylor College of Medicine Black Sea Foundation, to increase the availability of medications and medical supplies at selected public and private hospitals in Romania.


AmeriCares began providing lifesaving anti-retroviral medications, anti-infectives and nutritional supplements to families receiving care at the Baylor College of Medicine Black Sea Foundation Centre of Excellence in Constanta, Romania in 2004.


With the new Chevron partnership, BIPAI and AmeriCares will expand the donation of medication and medical supplies to a network of qualified health care institutions across Romania, by increasing BIPAI-Romania's capacity to manage larger quantities of donations on behalf of its own clinical center as well as additional health care institutions with identified resource needs throughout Romania.


To date, AmeriCares has supported BIPAI-Romania's health care programs with gift-in-kind donations valued at $41 million. AmeriCares began working in Romania in 1988 and since that time has delivered a total of $228 million worth of medical aid to qualified hospitals and clinics across the country. The Chevron partnership will enable AmeriCares and BIPAI to extend humanitarian support to even more beneficiaries across Romania.


"Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital's public-private partnerships with Chevron globally have allowed us to provide much needed care, treatment and capacity building initiatives in order to address gaps and needs in resource-limited settings," said Michael Mizwa, chief operating officer of BIPAI. "These initiatives will be enhanced by our Chevron Romania partnership with AmeriCares to address unmet needs in medical and pharmaceutical supplies to specific hospitals and clinics serving disenfranchised populations in Romania."


"On behalf of AmeriCares, I would like to thank Chevron for this incredibly generous gift that will directly enable Baylor and AmeriCares to help many more people in Romania live longer, healthier lives," said Tammy Allen, director of AmeriCares programs in Asia and Eurasia. "Without Chevron's critical support, our programs in Romania would not be able to flourish in this way. Our partnership with Chevron will take our humanitarian partnership to a higher level of expanded outreach across Romania."


"Chevron supports local communities in the area of health and safety. These are critical values within our own operations, and we support local communities within these same areas," said Tom Holst, Chevron Romania Country Manager. "We are pleased to be working to improve the health outcomes for communities in Romania, and to contribute to the lives of the people in those communities."


BIPAI operates a network of state-of-the-art clinical centers in Romania and across southern and East Africa - with more than 180,000 HIV-infected children and their family members receiving life-saving treatment - while also providing high-quality healthcare training and clinical research. It was founded by Dr. Mark Kline in 1996. Kline is now physician-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital and chair of pediatrics at Baylor.


AmeriCares is a nonprofit global health and disaster relief organization that delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in need around the world and across the United States. Since it was established in 1982, AmeriCares has distributed more than $11 billion in humanitarian aid to 164 countries.

About Texas Children’s Hospital

Texas Children’s Hospital, a not-for-profit health care organization, is committed to creating a healthier future for children and women throughout the global community by leading in patient care, education and research. Consistently ranked as the best children’s hospital in Texas, and among the top in the nation, Texas Children’s has garnered widespread recognition for its expertise and breakthroughs in pediatric and women’s health. The hospital includes the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute; the Feigin Center for pediatric research; Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, a comprehensive obstetrics/gynecology facility focusing on high-risk births; Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, a community hospital in suburban West Houston; and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, a second community hospital planned to open in 2017. The organization also created the nation’s first HMO for children, has the largest pediatric primary care network in the country and a global health program that’s channeling care to children and women all over the world. Texas Children’s Hospital is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine. For more information, go to www.texaschildrens.org. Get the latest news by visiting the online newsroom and Twitter at twitter.com/texaschildrens.