Odesa plans to reduce the number of medical institutions

Members of the Standing Deputy Commission on Healthcare supported the submission of the issue of merging a number of medical institutions in the city as part of the healthcare reform to the session.

According to the Center for Public Investigations, Olena Kolodenko, Director of the Health Department of the Odesa City Council, reported during the meeting that there are currently 32 medical institutions in the city, but there are disproportionate costs for management and support services.

There is also a loss of funding from the National Health Service of Ukraine due to the lack of continuity in patient routes, the lack of NHSU coefficients for certification, and there are institutions that are not part of a capable network. There is also a lot of duplication of various functions, which prevents them from developing.

Therefore, the Department proposed to reduce the number of institutions by merging them. In particular, it was proposed to merge primary health care centers with children's clinics and create a family health center, which will be represented by Children's City Clinical Hospital No. 3, Consultative and Diagnostic Center No. 29, Maternity Hospital No. 5, and Consultative and Medical Center No. 6.

To wit:

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

According to Olena Kolodenko, the merger will save at least UAH 300 million in the city budget. The director of the department also emphasized that some medical institutions will be merged with others only after repairs are completed with grants from European banks. The official said that the merger would not affect the employment of medical staff - doctors and nurses would not be affected, but administrators, accountants and other non-medical staff would have to find other jobs. The department promised to facilitate their employment, and the freed-up funds will be used, among other things, to increase medical salaries.

Кирило Бойко