Our goal is to create a high-quality and affordable rehabilitation system that guarantees full recovery of each patient - Viktor Liashko
During his working visit to Volyn, Health Minister Viktor Lyashko visited several medical institutions providing rehabilitation services: The Volyn Regional Clinical Hospital, whose rehabilitation department has the capacity to provide free rehabilitation care to more than 1500 patients annually, and the Medical Center for Rehabilitation of Combatants in Lutsk, where more than 6000 patients were treated last year alone.
In total, free rehabilitation care in Volyn is available in 16 medical institutions. The Volyn Oblast has fully implemented the instructions of the Barrier-Free Council to set up modern barrier-free inpatient rehabilitation units in all cluster and multidisciplinary supercluster medical facilities: they operate in 9 hospitals.
“Our goal is to create a high-quality and affordable rehabilitation system that guarantees full recovery for each patient. Ukraine is already taking significant steps in this direction by providing modern and evidence-based rehabilitation methods. We focus on equal access to quality rehabilitation care across the country so that everyone who needs it can receive it in a timely manner and free of charge. Step by step, we are strengthening our human resources, expanding the capabilities of the rehabilitation network and keeping the focus on the quality of services, as the health of thousands of Ukrainians depends on it.”
The Ministry of Health is actively building a modern rehabilitation system based on evidence, accessibility and human-centeredness. The flagship project “Development of the Rehabilitation Care System” is a key part of the National Strategy for Creating Barrier-Free Space, initiated by the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, and aims to help Ukrainians, both civilians and military, return to active life.
The foundation of the rehabilitation system is modern barrier-free departments operating in cluster and multidisciplinary supercluster hospitals of a capable network. Today, 81% (187 out of 232) of such medical facilities in the country have such units, which significantly improves the accessibility of rehabilitation services.
It should be noted that this type of care is also provided by medical institutions that are not part of a capable network. Currently, the National Health Service of Ukraine has contracted 554 medical institutions that provide rehabilitation care for adults and children. 362 medical facilities provide inpatient care, and 507 provide outpatient care. Rehabilitation services for the youngest patients (up to 3 years old) are provided by 153 facilities.
In 2025, rehabilitation units across the country will provide 12,000 rehabilitation sessions per day. For comparison, in 2022 this figure was less than 4000. This means that many more patients can receive rehabilitation to the extent they need.
At the same time, in 2024, about 170 thousand patients received free and evidence-based inpatient rehabilitation services, including almost 52 thousand defenders of Ukraine. During the same period, more than 325 thousand patients received outpatient rehabilitation services, including almost 9 thousand defenders of Ukraine.
In most facilities, the arrangement of inpatient rehabilitation departments meets the requirements of the Ministry of Health: repairs have been made, the necessary rehabilitation equipment is available, generators are working, they have barrier-free space and adhere to the principles of inclusion.
Also, starting in 2024, the rehabilitation tariff was differentiated: hospitals began to receive from UAH 19 to 41 thousand for each patient rehabilitation cycle lasting 14 days. It depends on the complexity of the condition, as patients with severe injuries require much more attention.
As part of rehabilitation care for adults and children in inpatient settings, the possibility of receiving up to 26 rehabilitation cycles per year has been added. This is especially important for patients with amputations.
The main focus of the rehabilitation system is the person. It is important that each patient receives rehabilitation care as soon as possible after an injury or acute illness. This requires a sufficient number of qualified specialists. In 2024, the rehabilitation system employs almost 11,000 specialists as part of multidisciplinary teams, which is almost seven times more than in 2022. This significantly improves the quality and accessibility of rehabilitation services in the country.
The Ministry of Health of Ukraine initiated the development of clinical multidisciplinary rehabilitation centers of excellence. Currently, there are seven of them: in Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Ternopil and Rivne. The Centers of Excellence are being developed based on progressive rehabilitation departments operating in multidisciplinary hospitals and providing rehabilitation care starting from the acute period. The main goal of their activities is to improve the skills of rehabilitation specialists in various professions and to train multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams. The centers serve as training hubs for other Ukrainian rehabilitation teams. In addition, their role is to introduce new evidence-based methods of providing rehabilitation care and to develop a community of rehabilitation professionals.
Since October 2023, the Centers of Excellence have conducted more than 50 educational events for rehabilitation professionals from 42 rehabilitation units with the support of the WHO Office in Ukraine. The project is the War Trauma Rehabilitation project implemented by the Charitable Foundation “Patients of Ukraine” with the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, the European Union in Ukraine, and Nova Ukraine.
The Ministry of Health actively cooperates with European rehabilitation centers. Since November 2023, specialists from the centers of excellence have been undergoing internships and participating in pieces of training at leading clinics and rehabilitation centers worldwide. The program covered countries such as Norway, Latvia, Germany, the United States, Denmark, Japan, Slovenia, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Estonia. This facilitated the exchange of experience and deepened cooperation with international partners.
Routes for spinal cord injuries were also identified. Currently, 7 healthcare facilities will provide rehabilitation care for spinal cord injuries to victims of full-scale war. For 2025, 5 priority investment projects worth more than UAH 1.1 billion have been selected to develop rehabilitation centers.
As part of one of the joint projects of the Ministry of Health and the World Bank, Healthcare Enhancement and Life Saving (HEAL Ukraine), UAH 2.7 billion is planned to restore and reconstruct 4 infrastructure facilities to provide rehabilitation care.
The project also provides funding for the repair of rehabilitation departments in the amount of UAH 120 million and has already purchased more than 3,000 pieces of medical equipment. Last year, 194 healthcare facilities across Ukraine received modern rehabilitation equipment.
A pilot project is underway to train healthcare rehabilitation specialists in a dual form of education. The main goals of the project are to train highly qualified healthcare professionals, improve educational programs in higher education institutions, increase the practical part of training, engage healthcare institutions in training medical staff, and increase the number of specialists in rehabilitation departments. The project will last for two years, and based on its results, a decision will be made to scale it up across the country.
The Ministry of Health is working to provide modern, evidence-based and effective rehabilitation without bureaucracy and paperwork. To this end, the patient rehabilitation process has been digitized. It is supported in the electronic healthcare system (EHS). This is Ukraine's next step in integrating the best international standards, including in the field of digital development, which will eliminate the need for medical professionals to fill out paper logs and allow for the prompt exchange of information and tracking of rehabilitation dynamics by all members of the multidisciplinary rehabilitation team.
It should be noted that the mechanism for prescribing rehabilitation aids to people with persistent disabilities who have the status of “person with a disability” or “child with a disability” continues to function. The process of obtaining such aids for permanent use prior to establishing disability status has been improved, allowing patients to receive the necessary aids without delay. Any patient undergoing rehabilitation can receive all the necessary assistive technologies free of charge.
The Ministry of Health is also working to expand the reimbursement program for medicines and medical devices that are most in demand among veterans and have an evidence base.
The MOH's “Development of the Rehabilitation Care System” project is part of the National Strategy for Creating a Barrier-Free Space in Ukraine, which is being implemented at the initiative of the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska.