One of the best medical institutions in the Chernihiv region, Nizhyn City Hospital, met the full-scale invasion at the forefront of emergency care provision. Both wounded soldiers and civilians were brought here, and people who had survived the occupation came for help as well. It was a severe but feasible challenge for the hospital staff. Responding to the need for emergency assistance due to the increased number of patients, the USAID DOBRE Program delivered a lot of necessary equipment to the institution for proper care and comfortable stay of people.
Almost 140 years ago, the public welfare committee of the Chernihiv gubernian zemstvo provided the Nizhyn district zemstvo with a small medical facility. Being expanded in 1894 to its present form, the city hospital began to develop from there. Last year, the district hospital was added to it, thus creating a single medical campus in Nizhyn to improve the provision of medical services to the community. Today, the municipal non-profit enterprise Nizhyn Central City Hospital has ten inpatient departments, a polyclinic, and paraclinical services.
“Last year, due to the cancellation of packages for COVID-19 patients treatment, hospital funding from the National Health Service decreased significantly. At the same time, we had to employ the staff of the abolished district medical institution. Therefore, the implementation of non-urgent plans was out of the question. The help from the American people was indeed timely and necessary,” said Ms. Olga Shvets, the newly appointed CEO of the Nizhyn City Hospital.
“With the support from the USAID DOBRE Program, our hospital can provide patients with proper care. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have faced new challenges and tasks, and thanks to this assistance, we can not only fully meet some of our needs but also develop further,” says Ms. Olga Shvets.
Under its Emergency Response Project, USAID DOBRE provided the hospital with 13 large refrigerators, microwaves, and electric kettles that it didn’t have before. In addition, mattresses, bed linen, blankets, pillows, and 40 folding beds were delivered. Earlier, Nizhyn hospital received 13 washing machines and dryers. More than 200 people stay in the facility every day, mostly inpatients. So their stay in the hospital has now become more comfortable.
Patients of the Nizhyn hospital are very pleased. They say that thanks to equipment such as a refrigerator, microwave, electric kettle, etc. They feel as if they were at home, not in a medical institution.
“I am impressed and grateful to the USAID DOBRE Program for this new level of amenities in our hospital. This is a big step in improving conditions for patients and staff,” says Mr. Dmytro Potorocha, Deputy General Director for Facilities Management.
“The USAID DOBRE Program continues to support the improvement of healthcare services in the Nizhynska community,” said Oleksandr Muratov, Local Government Services Expert, USAID DOBRE, “When the doctors of the Nizhynska community faced new challenges, in particular, an increased flow of patients from other communities, including pregnant women, we transferred equipment to the Nizhyn City Maternity Hospital, worth a total of UAH 1.8 million“.
Under the USAID DOBRE Emergency Response Project, the Nizhynska community has also received a field kitchen, generators, and bullpens. Shortly, the Program plans to provide the local maternity hospital with an automobile to rapidly transfer urgent doctors to places where people need timely medical care, including emergency surgeries and complicated deliveries.
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The USAID Program, “Decentralization Offering Better Results and Efficiency” (DOBRE), is a nine-year program, implemented by Global Communities and funded by the United States Agency for International Development. DOBRE has worked closely with 100 consolidated communities (CCs) in ten Oblasts of Ukraine to help them realize the benefits and meet the challenges brought by decentralization. DOBRE provides technical and material assistance to CCs to help them govern openly and accountably and meet the needs of their citizens; and supports citizens’ active engagement in decision-making and policy making. DOBRE’s support encompasses strategic planning; spatial planning; financial management; public service delivery; local economic development; capacity building; good governance practices; and gender- and youth-responsive policies.
In the period 2022 – 2025, DOBRE will be working directly with at least 60 CCs of Ukraine to help them cope with the consequences of the war, recover and rebuild, and resume their trajectory of positive, sustainable development. Partners with Global Communities in the DOBRE Program Consortium include the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center; the Foundation in Support of Local Democracy, and the Malopolska School of Public Administration at the Krakow University of Economics, Poland.
