The introduction of uniform hospitalization criteria in Ukraine does not mean an automatic reduction in the hospital network; however, complex medical procedures will increasingly be concentrated in facilities capable of ensuring the necessary level of safety, said Yevhen Honchar, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Health, in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, in most communities where hospitals currently operate, medical care facilities should remain. The key issue is the range of services that a specific facility is capable of providing safely.
A small hospital does not necessarily need to perform surgical procedures or deliver babies if it lacks a sufficient number of specialists and the necessary infrastructure.
In particular, safe round-the-clock monitoring of surgical patients requires several anesthesiologists, whereas small facilities sometimes have only one surgeon and one anesthesiologist on staff.
At the same time, basic services—family medicine, consultations with a cardiologist, an obstetrician-gynecologist, and other specialists—must remain as geographically accessible as possible.
Thus, the development of the hospital network will proceed simultaneously in two directions: the concentration of specialized care and the preservation of a broad network of basic medical services.
HOSPITAL, HOSPITALIZATION, MEDICINE, Ministry of Health, REFORM
