Digital Debut

Crossing the Atlantic to be at ASCA 2018

BY SAHELY MUKERJI | APRIL 2018

A delegation of 20 senior-level health care executives from eight Eurasian countries visited the Boston Eye Surgery & Laser Center in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the US Department of Commerce’s Special American Business Internship Training (SABIT) Program during ASCA’s annual meeting in Boston, April 11-14.

The group toured the ASC on April 11 accompanied by two interpreters and Commerce staff (see photo gallery below). Jonathan Herlihy, administrator of the surgery center, led the tour that lasted about an hour. The group saw the full scope of the center, from patient intake to surgery and postop. After the tour, one of the delegates, Andriy Shved, MD, owner and chief doctor at Ophthalmological Microsurgery Clinic Medicus in Ternopil, Ukraine, asked to see the ASC’s non-surgical services.

After the tour, Shved remarked that the surgical area being separated from the diagnostic area makes it possible to maintain effective infection control. "Twenty-four diagnostic rooms allow to efficiently serve patients and make them feel comfortable," he said. "I am especially thankful that they showed us everything there was to see including the operating room.”

Another delegate, Marina Maglakelidze, MD, clinical manager/deputy director for Oncology Research Institute of Clinical Medicine at Academy F. Todua Medical Center in Tbilisi, Georgia, said “The things that impressed me were their warm attitude to our delegation, their desire to show us their facility and share their professional experience. They took time to answer all our questions and showed us special features of an ambulatory surgical center that my country is yet to achieve. Such close collaboration between medical workers, colleagues and international partners serve one common goal: to assure the safety of our patients.”

Greg DeConcillis, president of Massachusetts Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (MAASC) said, "The Massachusetts Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers wants to thank Jonathan Herlihy and his team at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston [parent organization of Boston Eye Surgery & Laser Center] for hosting the Eurasian delegation as part of the SABIT Program during ASCA's 2018 annual meeting," said Greg DeConcillis, president of MAASC. "The Boston Eye Surgery & Laser Center is a well-respected cornerstone of the ASC community in Massachusetts and, we are proud to say, a longstanding member of the MAASC."

The SABIT program builds partnerships and provides technical assistance by training Eurasian business leaders in US business practices. These training programs directly support Eurasian economic and civil society development by encouraging market-based reforms, while generating valuable export and investment opportunities for US industry.