New Start at Karagheusian Center. Children First
October 2026 | Yerevan, Armenia
After more than three decades of serving children and families across Armenia, the Howard Karagheusian MBPO is preparing to open a bold new chapter in its history. A new headquarters is nearing completion in central Yerevan.
As the building receives its final touches, a transformation is also unfolding within the organization. Energized by the opportunities ahead, the staff are already bringing this transformation to life, reshaping programs, embracing new approaches, and preparing to deliver a new standard of care within the new Center.
Designed around the child as a whole, the new Center introduces an integrated model of care under one roof, providing children up to age 14 with free access to a comprehensive range of oral health, psychosocial wellness, and development services that move beyond addressing individual needs in isolation to support the child’s overall health, development, and well-being.
For more than 30 years, Howard Karagheusian MBPO has stood alongside generations of children in Armenia, adapting its programs as the country and the needs of its families have changed. Today, the organization is building on that legacy with renewed ambition for a new model of child-centered care.
“The Karagheusian Center is entering a new era, one that builds on its longstanding service to children and families in Armenia.” says Irina Lazarian, Managing Director of the Karagheusian Foundation NY, who has served in this role for over 12 years. “The new headquarter is at the heart of this transformation, bringing together modern infrastructure and technologies, multidisciplinary services, professional development, and opportunities for partnership under one place.”
“We are investing into the organization’s institutional capacity and in advanced technologies, modern equipment, and a purpose-built facility designed around the changing needs of the children and families we serve,” says Liana Sargsyan, Executive Director of Howard Karagheusian MBPO. “This transformation reflects the strategic direction and leadership of Ms. Lazarian, who has played a central role in shaping the organization’s future and driving the development of the new facility from concept to reality.”
The scale of this transformation becomes even more meaningful when viewed against the history of the Karagheusian Center in Armenia, a history deeply connected to its longtime headquarters in Yerevan’s Nork-Marash administrative district.
The Center opened during one of the most difficult periods in Armenia’s recent history. “The need was immense. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, specialized pediatric dental services were extremely scarce in Armenia, making the Karagheusian Center a vital source of care for children and families. Patient demand was so high that, until 2014, the Yerevan facility, together with the Gyumri and Vanadzor branches, operated in two shifts.” recalls Alisa Badalyan, the organization’s Medical Director, who has been with Karagheusian since its early years in the country.
The Nork-Marash Center, together with Karagheusian’s regional sites, was equipped with the most advanced dental technology available at the time and became an important hub for specialized pediatric dental care. Doctors and professors from the United States regularly brought their expertise to Armenia, contributing not only to the development of the Karagheusian Center but also to the broader advancement of pediatric dentistry in the country.
Since 1992 over a million children passed through the Center’s doors, while generations of healthcare professionals built their experience within its walls. The building in Nork-Marash became part of the organization’s identity and a witness to long years of service.
But an institution built to respond to the needs of one era must also be prepared to meet the challenges of the next. And, the next stage of Karagheusian’s development began taking physical shape in 2022, when the organization opened a newly constructed and modernly equipped facility for its Gyumri branch.
Building on that experience, the organization moved forward with an even more ambitious undertaking: a new headquarters in central Yerevan. The Nork-Marash facility had served the organization and generations of children extraordinarily well, but its infrastructure could no longer serve its purpose with the nowaday’s required industry standards supporting the scale, scope, and multidisciplinary model envisioned for Karagheusian’s future.
Construction of the new headquarters began in 2024, marking the start of one of the most transformative developments in the organization’s recent history. The state-of-the-art facility is envisioned as a Center of Excellence for children’s health and well-being, one that brings together clinical services, prevention and treatment, psychosocial support, education, professional development, and collaboration.
However, the new Center’s potential extends beyond the children who will receive services within its walls. Professional education and knowledge transfer have been part of Karagheusian’s identity almost from the beginning. From 1995 to 2000, the Yerevan branch served as an educational base for Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi. Many students who received training there later joined the Karagheusian Center, while others maintained warm professional ties with the organization throughout their careers. In 2026, that partnership is being revived and expanded through a new agreement establishing the Karagheusian Center as an official clinical training base for postgraduate students, and other dental professionals.
The new Yerevan facility will significantly enhance these opportunities, creating an environment where clinical practice, professional education, knowledge exchange, and innovation can reinforce one another.
Through this renewed role, the Center will not only care for children today, it will also help prepare the professionals who will care for Armenia’s children tomorrow.
“The new headquarters marks an important milestone in the Karagheusian Center’s journey,” says Irina Lazarian. “It creates the conditions for us to build on what the organization has accomplished and pursue its long-term vision with greater capacity and impact in the years ahead.”
From a warm and brightly lit Center that offered care during the darkest years of the 1990s to a modern Center taking shape in the heart of Yerevan. The purpose that has guided Karagheusian for more than three decades remains constant…To be there for children. To respond when their needs change. To invest in their health, development, and future.
