Children's Oncology Hospital Built in Romania Entirely on Donations, NGO Ready to Share Experience with Bulgaria

Romania will have a children's oncology hospital by the autumn of 2023. It will include nine levels, 187 beds and five operating rooms spanning over an area of 12,000 sq m. The treatment facility is the first in the country to be built entirely on donations. Some 350,000 individuals and 7,000 companies have embraced the cause of the Give Life Association and together they managed to raise EUR 43 million in ten years. Even the heavy metal band Metallica joined in the large-scale donation campaign.  

Oana Gheorghiu and Carmen Uscatu, founders of the Give Life Association, are behind the project, which is often referred to as the "Hospital of Hope" in Romania. Prompted by the story of 17-year-old Dragos, who was suffering from leukemia, and driven by their desire to help, the two women started looking for all kinds of ways to raise funds. "That's how we found out about a tax deduction through which companies can give 20% of their tax profits to an NGO under a particular project. We started convincing people that it existed. It was so 'cool' that people didn't believe it really existed," Oana and Carmen said in an interview with BTA. 

The first person to support them was an old client of Oana's. He donated EUR 10,000. By December 2009, the funds raised had already reached EUR 100,000. In 2010, with the help of a creative agency, Oana and Carmen created a large-scale campaign for companies and individuals. They manage to raise EUR 1.1 million in four months. However, there was no support from the Romanian State. 

"There were moments when it [the State] even put up obstacles. In the beginning it was difficult with the bureaucracy and with the building permit and everything related to documentation from the Romanian State. The Romanian State's problem is not the money to build hospitals, but the fact that its plans and intentions do not go from paper to action," say Oana and Carmen. They have recently held talks with the Ministry of Health, as well as with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, and have been promised support.

"First of all, we would like them to let us help, to improve things. This is also what we propose. To build a hospital, a different type of medical services and management. Romania needs a change in its health care system. Probably the same need you have in Bulgaria", say the founders of the Give Life Association. They are also ready to help Bulgaria with knowledge and experience in building a children's hospital. 

"If there is an NGO in Bulgaria that can offer to do what we did here, we can certainly share experience. Perhaps the Bulgarian State should approach consultants from abroad. We can give them recommendations," Oana and Carmen said. 

The Children's Oncology Hospital will be the first in Romania where a child with cancer will have access to multidisciplinary treatment. The Bucharest facility will offer surgeries, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, consultation with a cardiologist and a dentist. The project has also been implemented with the help of specialists from the Netherlands, Jordan and Spain. 

"This is the first paediatric hospital in Romania where the parent is also taken into account. The rooms have two beds folding into the walls, which are provided for the parents. This is the first hospital where we have thought a lot about the emotional part as well. For the child. There are places to play, a garden, a cinema lounge and a mini observatory on top. Things need to be organized so that after a person has been admitted to a hospital, they continue to feel like a human being," say the founders of the Give Life Association.