In 2023, Ukrainian clinics resumed their work taking into account the situation and challenges of wartime and opened new areas, in particular, those that take into account the needs for treatment of war injuries, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
This was announced by the heads of leading private clinics in Ukraine during a roundtable discussion at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
“In 2023, we regained our position in the market share for our usual services – childbirth and pregnancy. There, we have already successfully transformed into a multidisciplinary medical center, added new services and were able to develop in several new areas, such as obesity treatment, mammary and phlebology surgery, and pediatrics,” said Vadym Zukin, COO and co-owner of Leleka Multidisciplinary Medical Center.
At the same time, he called the clinic’s confirmation of Joint Commission International (JCI) international accreditation for 2024 the biggest achievement in 2023.
“In 2024, we plan to develop the services we already have in new areas, as well as launch several services unique to Ukraine, which we will be able to announce at the end of the year,” Zukin said, adding, “We can talk about our plans only thanks to our Armed Forces, our defenders who are currently protecting us at the front.”
In turn, Oleksandr Linchevsky, Chief Medical Officer of the Dobrobut medical network (Kyiv), reminded of the opening of a new multidisciplinary hospital on Bazhana Avenue in Kyiv with an area of more than 9,000 square meters in 2023. Last year, the Dobrobut Ophthalmology Clinic also started its work in the new hospital.
“This opening was planned from the very beginning, before the full-scale invasion, we planned to open it a year earlier. But even during the war, we were able to open this new hospital with new facilities, new services, new operating rooms. And, of course, it looks incredible,” he said.
Linchevsky also said that in 2023 Dobrobut opened a rehabilitation department in the medical center on Simi Idzykovskoho Street in the capital and plans to open similar departments in its outpatient departments.
In addition, Dobrobut launched a new Center for Somnology and a Center for Onco-Dermatology, which is headed by Professor Maria Kukushkina. Last year, the chain also opened another dental clinic, bringing the total number of Dobrobut dentists in Kyiv to three.
“We like the result of 2023, although we might have wanted to have some of it in 2022,” he said.
Commenting on Dobrobut’s development plans for 2024, Mr. Linchevsky said: “If we say we have nothing to improve, we will be deceiving ourselves.”
“Every comment, every criticism from patients is already a self-sufficient development plan. We just decide to implement this plan immediately or a little later. The war is full of uncertainties, so we will focus on solving operational issues and laying the foundations to realize our hopes and dreams as soon as possible. We have a lot to do every day,” he stated.
For his part, Vitaliy Girin, co-owner of the ADONIS Medical Group, said that in 2023, the group’s clinics provided medical care to more than 250 thousand people. In addition, more than 300 military personnel received rehabilitation assistance.
Mr. Girin also said that last year ADONIS opened two outpatient rehabilitation centers and a rehabilitation center in the left-bank part of Kyiv.
“Despite the blackouts and all the problems we have faced, we see that the number of our patients is gradually increasing,” he said.
At the same time, Girin noted that the pre-war years were associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, so comparing the flow of patients with the pre-war period would not be correct. “The numbers are not very correct, but we have about 50% fewer patients,” he said.
“The most important achievement is that we were able to keep the team we have,” emphasized Girin.
Commenting on plans for 2024, he said that the most important task for ADONIS is to optimize business processes.
“We will implement new quality standards and introduce the latest technologies. We also want to focus on developing a culture of regular checkups, because health is in the hands of people themselves. They have already realized this, and no one is responsible for it but them,” he said.
For his part, Rostyslav Valikhnovskyi, director and founder of the Dr. Valikhnovskyi Clinic medical center, said that the clinic specializes in scheduled and urgent surgeries. In 2023, it expanded and developed a wide range of services for Ukrainian and foreign patients, and also actively provides the necessary surgical care to military personnel.
“We opened a clinic in Ivano-Frankivsk. It is a full-fledged building according to modern standards, even newer than the one in Kyiv. This clinic helps us a lot during the war to provide services to those patients who have left for western Ukraine but need highly specialized surgical services,” he said.
In addition, Valikhnovsky announced the construction of a second building in Kyiv with an area of about 2,500 square meters. At the same time, changes were made to this project to expand the area of bomb shelters and increase the bed capacity by 35 beds.
In addition, the Dr. Valikhnovsky Clinic has launched the Valikhnovsky Academy educational project, in which 150 surgeons from different countries with many years of practice experience and their own electronic patient record, which stores medical data in English, are mentored by mentors. This makes it possible to transfer this data to any medical center in the world if necessary.
Commenting on plans for 2024, Valikhnovsky emphasized his intention to build another clinic in Kyiv and western Ukraine.
“Currently, we are looking for a building in the capital of 5-6 thousand square meters, which we can reconstruct, or a land plot for construction. The second part is a clinic in the western region of the country,” he said.
For her part, Oleksandra Zborovska, a senior researcher at the Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (Odesa), said that the clinic did not stop working in 2023. She called the main achievements the retention of the scientific and staff, the continuation of medical services and research.
According to Zborovska, the number of patients has fully returned to the pre-war level, but there are more serious patients in their structure. “The number of severe cases is increasing,” she stated.
Zborovska also said that the clinic has treated about 1,500 victims of war trauma, both military and civilians.
She also recalled that the institute had opened a new seven-story building with the most modern ophthalmic equipment.
In addition, the institute’s staff, who treat eye injuries, have spoken at major international conferences to present their unique experience.
“The breakthrough that we were able to realize based on our experience in creating new projects not only in practical but also in scientific terms is very important for us,” she said.
ADONIS, DOBROBUT, FILATOV INSTITUTE, Linchevsky, ZBOROVSKA, ГИРИН, Зукін, Лелека
