Russian Doctors See State-of-Art VA Hospital

A trio of Russian doctors inspected the sprawling Sepulveda VA Medical Center on Tuesday in hopes of modeling two new Siberian hospitals on its state-of-the-art medical technology.

“This is our dream, to have these kinds of machines,” said Dr. Alexander Gonzov, 35, who marveled at the hospital’s $1.5-million digital scanner used to reveal blood clots. “With this, it is very easy to see what the medical problem is. We do surgery in the dark.”

Using modular units built in the United States, a 200-bed hospital and clinic and a 300-bed hospital will be constructed in the Khanty-Mansysk autonomous district of Russia--complete with American medical technology such as the digital scanner, said Gene Moskovich, president of Moschanko, a Century City-based investment and technology firm spearheading the $80-million joint venture with the Russian government.

Moskovich said the effort is the first American-Russian joint venture involving hospitals in the region, a frigid landscape of about 1.2 million people rich in oil. Construction is expected to begin next year.

So it was no wonder that Gonzov and fellow physicians Victor D. Vilgelm and Leonid Titovsky toured the VA hospital like children at Disneyland--videotaping, touching and asking questions about medical equipment and facilities they now have the opportunity to put on their wish list.

“This is unbelievable,” Gonzov said through an interpreter as he videotaped everything from the emergency room to the bathroom. “To have all the departments working together. And the readiness. Each hospital is ready immediately to help the patient. I am impressed.”