In Odesa, the shortage of healthcare workers has exceeded 2 thousand people

The shortage of doctors and nurses in Odesa's medical institutions has reached 2-2,500 people, which is partially planned to be solved by internal redistribution of staff through the merger of medical institutions.

According to the Center for Public Investigations, this was reported by Olena Kolodenko, Director of the Health Department of the Odesa City Council, during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Health on April 20.

She cited the shortage of medical personnel as an argument in favor of merging a number of medical activities. The merger should become part of a nationwide reform that provides for the creation of cluster medical institutions.

In particular, the merger was discussed at the commission's meeting on April 20:

• Children's City Polyclinic No. 3 and Children's City Polyclinic No. 4 to Primary Health Care Center No. 2.
• Children's City Polyclinic No. 6 to Primary Health Care Center No. 3.
• Children's Consultative and Diagnostic Center named after Academician B.Y. Reznik to Primary Health Care Center No. 4.
• Children's City Polyclinic No. 2 to Primary Health Care Center No. 5.
• Children's City Polyclinic No. 5 and Children's City Polyclinic No. 7 to Primary Health Care Center No. 16."
• Children's City Polyclinic No. 1 to Primary Health Care Center No. 18.

Also on the agenda at the beginning of the meeting were issues of mergers:

• City Hospital No. 5 and Consultative and Diagnostic Center No. 20 with City Clinical Hospital No. 10,
• the City Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital, the Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, and the City Psychiatric Dispensary with the City Clinical Hospital No. 11.
• Maternity Hospital No. 5, Consultative Diagnostic Center No. 6, and Consultative Diagnostic Center No. 29 with Children's City Clinical Hospital No. 3.

However, such a merger was opposed by MP Volodymyr Kornienko, who attended the meeting in an advisory capacity, and commission member Iryna Kutsenko. Volodymyr Kornienko insisted that the merger would cause losses due to the loss of agreements with the National Health Service, to the loss of staff who would move to private medical institutions. Iryna Kutsenko suggested not to merge the Consultative and Diagnostic Center No. 20 with others, and not to merge the Infectious Disease Hospital and HIV Prevention Center and the Maternity Hospital and Consultative and Diagnostic Center No. 29.

Olena Kolodenko noted that the Consultative and Diagnostic Center No. 20 was added to the list of those that are planned to be merged to make the institution cluster. However, Iryna Kutsenko noted that the center has demonstrated its capacity and can operate without merging. In the end, the commission did not support the changes to Hospital No. 10.

Кирило Бойко