Anna’s main role is to open doors that create new opportunities for families

Quite often, change begins with one timely and valuable connection. In medicine, that connection may be a doctor who is ready to review a complex case promptly. It may be a clinic with the right expertise and the capacity to accept a patient for treatment. It may be a charitable foundation able to support a family at a difficult time. Or it may be a trusted partner who helps resolve issues that are not strictly medical, but without which treatment abroad would be difficult to organise — payments, documents, visas, logistics and other practical matters.

These are exactly the kinds of connections that Anna Kuzmina, Head of Strategic Partnerships at MCI, builds for families.

Much of her work takes place behind the scenes. While parents are gathering medical records, speaking with a coordinator and waiting for a response from Spain, Anna is negotiating with clinics, establishing relationships with relevant specialists, maintaining contact with hospitals’ international departments, and meeting with charitable foundations and partner organisations.

By bringing together doctors, clinics, foundations and the people responsible for the organisational side of treatment, she helps turn a series of separate and often overwhelming tasks into a clear and manageable pathway for each individual family.

Thanks to the cooperation between MedCare Iberia and MSI in Russia, families based in Russia can contact us directly, arrange the necessary services and pay in roubles without having to deal with the complexities of international payments themselves.

A separate and particularly important part of Anna’s work is building relationships with charitable foundations. Even once a doctor has been found, a clinic selected and the medical pathway defined, families may still face another difficult question: how will the treatment be funded?

By meeting with foundation representatives, learning how applications are assessed, understanding which documents are required and in which circumstances support may be available, Anna is creating not merely a formal list of contacts, but a living partnership network — people and organisations ready to become involved when their support is needed.

For parents, most of this work remains invisible. What they see is the outcome: the clinic has responded, the right specialist has been found, the next step is clear, a payment issue has been resolved, or they now know where they can turn for additional support.