Minister of Health of Ukraine and Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany visit Okhmatdyt
Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko and Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany Svenja Schulze visited the largest National Children's Specialized Hospital “Okhmatdyt”, which was heavily damaged by the russian terrorist attack in early July this year.
The Ukrainian-German delegation inspected the destroyed and damaged buildings of the hospital. They also got acquainted with the progress of reconstruction works carried out by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) within the framework of the Special Support Program for Ukraine / EU4ResilientRegions in accordance with the signed memorandum of cooperation and funded by the German government.
“Despite the consequences and damage caused by russia's hostile shelling of the country's largest children's hospital, Okhmatdyt, we have managed to create conditions under which children with the most complex diseases continue to receive crucial specialized medical care. Every day, Okhmatdyt treats more than 500 patients and performs more than 40 surgeries. Since the missile attack, the hospital has provided medical care to more than 5,000 children, and doctors have performed about 3,000 surgeries. Today, thanks to our partners, including a memorandum signed between the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Okhmatdyt and GIZ, the hospital continues to restore the facility. As part of the cooperation, a number of complex repairs will be carried out in some of the children's hospital's premises, as well as the purchase of specialized equipment needed to treat young patients and strengthen the energy independence of the medical institution.”
The memorandum of cooperation envisages comprehensive repairs of certain areas of the existing infrastructure of the Okhmatdyt hospital. These are the premises of the second floor of the outpatient dialysis department and the manipulation room on the fourth floor of the polyclinic, the premises of the first floor of the neonatal intensive care unit in building No. 11-A, and the repair of part of the premises of the food unit, which provides food for young patients, their parents and hospital staff. In total, this is more than 700 people.
In addition, more than 250 units of modern medical equipment and consumables will be purchased as part of the cooperation. In particular, the hospital will receive equipment for routine and acute hemodialysis, a manipulation room, the first floor of the newborn intensive care unit and the third floor of the intensive care unit for very preterm infants.
Additionally, powerful solar stations will be installed on the roofs of three hospital buildings, along with emergency power supplies. A separate battery pack will be installed to reduce the use of electricity from the grid and increase the hospital's energy independence. This will include several hybrid stations of different capacities and energy storage systems, etc. As part of the cooperation, it is also planned to install two medical lifts instead of the usual ones.
The reconstruction of the hospital will improve access to specialised medical services for young patients from all over Ukraine.
The Ukrainian-German delegation also visited the Scientific and Practical Medical Centre for Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. As a reminder, the medical facility was also damaged by a russian missile attack on 8 July. Currently, the Centre for Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery is working to restore the premises.
During his visit to Okhmatdyt, Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko expressed his gratitude to Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany Svenja Schulze for her strong support of Ukraine despite the difficult times. The Health Minister noted that since the first days of the full-scale war, Germany has been one of the countries that has been most active in helping Ukraine and our citizens affected by the full-scale war. We are talking about numerous humanitarian aid, provision of equipment for hospitals, restoration of medical facilities, and medical evacuation of affected Ukrainians.