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When Mosse Davarashvili was diagnosed with terminal cancer in the Republic of Georgia, Perth Amboy's Jewish Renaissance Medical Center told his daughter Viktoria Avalishvili that if she brought him to the U.S., they would take care of the rest.

Mosse lived for another two years with the help of the JRMC's treatment, and though he lost his battle to cancer in 2005, it was just the beginning of the center's latest international initiative.

The JRMC's "Operation Lifeline International" sends volunteer physicians and educators on medical missions to crisis-ridden areas around the world, with past missions including Cuba, Hungary, Israel, Jamaica, and Ukraine. On Sept. 16, Georgian First Lady Sandra Roelofs visited the JRMC as Dr. Alan Goldsmith announced the organization's plans to visit the former Soviet nation in a few months.

"I think we are culturally sensitive and culturally aware in working in international affairs, especially in the medical world," Goldsmith said.

Founded by Goldsmith in 1995, the JRMC was the first ever faith-based, federally qualified health center (FQHC) in the U.S. FQHCs serviced 18 million Americans this past year and can be the backbone of taking care of the uninsured and working poor, Goldsmith said.

Goldsmith said the value of an FQHC could also ring true in Georgia, where according to Roelofs only about a third of 5 million people have health insurance. In Goldsmith's estimation, FQHCs should perform most primary care and be a "gatekeeper" for hospitals, allowing hospitals to focus on specialty care and specialty hospitals to tackle other medical fields such as oncology.

Coming to the health center for an injury, rather than running straight to the emergency room, will lead to a more efficient use of funds in health care systems, Goldsmith said. JRMC employees will expand on those kinds of insights when they meet with Georgian doctors and government officials.

"We are committed to work with them, to help raise funding, and to establish this kind of center there that we want to work with," Goldsmith said.

Roelofs is a nurse who is also studying to become a doctor. She said she sees many parallels in health care issues between the U.S. and Georgia, including a high number of uninsured people and abusive private insurance companies.

"I am sure that we can sit around the table and discuss what are the points of cooperation, where can we help each other," Roelofs said.

Through her contacts, Viktoria Avalishvili was able to present Roelofs with proposals for collaborative work between the JRMC and Georgia, and the parties agreed to the terms of their partnership during the first lady's visit.

Goldsmith said he was inspired by Mosse Davarashvili's story. Before the 1980 Olympics, the Russian Federation denied Mosse the chance to play on its soccer team because his name sounded like Moses and was too Jewish, Goldsmith said.

With Roelofs' background in the medical field, Goldsmith called this partnership a "perfect match."

"This is exactly someone who is in the health care industry who gets things done," Goldsmith said of Roelofs.

"She's a tremendous advocate for health care for the Republic of Georgia," he added.

Roelofs said she is focusing on Georgia's ability to achieve the United Nations' 8 Millennium Development Goals for 2015. Georgia is "doing quite well" in limiting infant mortality and maternal mortality rates, she said. Recovering from its August 2008 war with Russia, she said, remains Georgia's largest challenge at the moment.

"It's very difficult to realize that you have had 15 years of stability and all the sudden there is a new order," Roelofs said.

Georgia is focusing on economic and social reforms with the hope that foreign policy solutions will follow, Roelofs said. The country is still transitioning from a Soviet economy to a capitalist system, she said, making the management of the health insurance industry particularly difficult.

Due to internal clashes and corruption in government, the first 10 years after Georgia's 1991 independence from Russia were "lost," Roelofs said.

"We are going through a very long transitional period," she said.

Among 5 million people, about 1.2 million Georgians have state health insurance and another half million have private insurance, Roelofs said. The country needs to convince the middle class of the importance of health insurance, she said.

As evidence of how far the country has come in its recovery, Roelofs said that when she eventually gets to shake hands with President Barack Obama, she hopes he will say "Oh yes, that Georgia in Europe" rather than the U.S. state.

Wilda Diaz, mayor of Perth Amboy, presented Roelofs with the key to the city. Diaz said that for many years, she has shared a vision with Goldsmith for Perth Amboy to provide quality health care for its population, which includes a large number of factory workers and immigrants.

"You can't be blind, not to realize that people need to see doctors to take care of their families," Diaz said.

Besides the vision, Goldsmith "has the heart" to live up to that task, Diaz said. She also praised Roelofs for her commitment to the wellbeing of the people of Georgia.

"You are a renaissance woman," she said to Roelofs, echoing the name of the event's venue.