Members of the Hovnanian family get
a tour of the Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit at the Monmouth Medical Center
in Long Branch.
Siran Hovnanian Sahakian still recalls
how proud she was as a 7-year-old the day her father
donated a piano for the auditorium of her public school.
“He was just starting out and didn’t have a lot of
money, but the school needed the piano,” she says. “It was
my first taste of giving back, and we’ve done it ever since.”
Today that tradition inspires Sahakian as she spearheads
fundraising for an expansion of Monmouth Medical
Center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which cares
for more than 500 premature infants each year.
Her dad, Armenian immigrant Hirair
Hovnanian, became a major philanthropist
after achieving success as a home builder. Now
retired, he leaves his real estate business in the
hands of Sahakian’s brother and three sisters
while he concentrates on the Hirair and Anna
Hovnanian Foundation, named for him and
his wife. Sahakian, a Monmouth County resident
and mother of four, is one of the directors.
“We’re proud of our heritage, and most
of the foundation’s activities are directed toward
Armenian causes,” she says. “But it’s also our
responsibility—and honor—to help our own
country, and I handle the American donations.”
It wasn’t hard to find a local cause worth
funding. “My family and I lived a large part of
our lives in Deal, so Monmouth Medical
Center was only one town away,” explains
Sahakian, who has served on the medical center’s
board since 2005. “It’s a leading teaching hospital and
the care there is top-notch.”
Monmouth’s NICU is the oldest such unit in the
state, and was the first in a community teaching hospital in
the nation. “The miracles accomplished by the NICU doctors
astound me,” says Sahakian. “Some of those babies are
born as early as 24 weeks, weighing only 1 pound, and yet
they’re able to survive. I just want to do my part to help this
department grow and thrive.”
Siran Hovnanian Sahakian took a few
moments recently to chat with
Monmouth Health & Life about her support
of Monmouth Medical Center’s
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit:
“My father’s example. He came to
America 50 years ago without a penny
to his name. He started working in
construction—one of his first jobs was
as a foreman on the Connecticut
Turnpike—and eventually established a
building business. He’s always taught us
to share what we have.”
“I’ve been blessed with four healthy
kids, but I know how terrible I feel when
one of them gets even a stomach virus.
When a child is seriously ill, parents’
fear and confusion must be overwhelming.
I see it through a mother’s eyes.”
“It already has the best equipment and
doctors—including Susan Hudome,
M.D., the medical director, who is a
knowledgeable and reassuring presence.
But the NICU needs more
space to keep up with growing
demand. Plans are under way to add
rooms and beds so that more babies
can be cared for and parents may
have increased privacy. Of course, in
the current economy raising money is
not easy, but if we all do our part, we
can meet our goal.”
CONTACT: Dennis Wilson
Director, Marketing and Public Relations
(732) 923-5005
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