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
Demand for medical services for pregnancy management and routine medical examinations is growing in Ukraine, but there are many neglected cases, said Valery Zukin, chief operating officer of the Leleka multidisciplinary medical center.
“At the beginning of September, we can talk about a stable demand for childbirth, pregnancy management and other urgent and emergency health cases that cannot be planned or postponed in advance. At the same time, the demand for scheduled preventive examinations is growing. This is especially true for women – they are more likely to go to medical facilities for check-ups than men,” he told Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on the dynamics of demand for medical services in Ukraine.
Zukin also noted that “the number of ‘deferred’ medical care is growing – cases that do not require urgent resolution and can be returned to later, but should not be neglected at all.”
According to Zukin, in particular, there is an increase in surgical interventions for gynecological problems, hernias, gallbladder removal, removal of breast fibroadenomas, and various phlebology procedures and operations.
At the same time, Zukin emphasized that “since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukrainians have become less health conscious.”
“As a result, medical experts note an increase in advanced cases. Therefore, I would like to emphasize that it is important to understand that it is better not to postpone treatment of some diseases,” he said.
Zukin also noted an increase in demand for so-called “non-medical” and “aesthetic services”.
“In our clinic, even before the full-scale invasion, such services accounted for a rather small percentage of the overall structure of the medical center’s services, but now various festive services during discharge from the obstetric hospital (photo and video discharge, a gala buffet, etc.) are quite popular. Also, aesthetic gynecology services and massages for pregnant women, etc. have gained considerable popularity,” he said.
In addition, the expert pointed out “the problem that is now gaining momentum in Ukraine is the unsatisfactory state of childhood vaccination.”
“At a time when parents are massively willing to pay for their children’s vaccinations on their own, certain bureaucratic problems prevent suppliers from importing a sufficient amount of the relevant drugs from abroad,” he said.
As reported, the number of medical services provided to Ukrainians in 2023 under the PMG has increased both compared to last year and the pre-war period. As of June, the number of patients who received medical care under each of the 2021 PFG packages amounted to 3.06 million patients, 3.55 million in 2022, and 4.22 million in 2023.
At the same time, 101.101 thousand patients received medical care during childbirth in 2023, 109.403 thousand patients in 2022, and 141.144 thousand patients in 2021.
Leleka Multifunctional Medical Center is one of the leading Ukrainian clinics in the field of obstetrics, gynecology, and general surgery. The medical center practices medical protocols approved in Ukraine, the United States and Western Europe. The Leleka Center for Modern Surgery provides surgical gynecology, mammology, vascular surgery (phlebology), proctology and urology, endocrine surgery, plastic, abdominal, bariatric, outpatient surgery, and endoscopy.
In 2019, Leleka was the first in Ukraine to receive JCI accreditation, one of the world’s most prestigious quality standards for medical institutions. The standard is based on the American system of medical accreditation of medical institutions based on the management of patient outcomes.
The JCI International Division accredits hospitals in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America, and now in Ukraine. JCI annually updates its accreditation standards to expand its patient safety goals.
Doctors at the Leleka Multidisciplinary Medical Center in Kyiv have performed a unique surgery on a pregnant woman with a rare pathology, placental accretion, which poses extremely high risks to the life and health of mother and child.
As the clinic told Interfax-Ukraine, the operation was performed on a patient who was pregnant for the third time, but the pregnancy was complicated and the woman was diagnosed with placenta accreta spectrum at an early stage.
“After the pathology was detected, the doctors the couple consulted assured them that the patient would not be able to bear and give birth to a child. Moreover, even if she succeeded, the uterus would have to be removed. She was also warned about the risks to her life. But they unanimously sent her for an abortion. This is a very rare pathology,” Leleka says.
However, after numerous consultations in various clinics, the patient turned to Leleka, where they took on this complex case, the main risk of which is a large blood loss.
“This is not an ordinary caesarean section. Such a manipulation requires a multidisciplinary approach, several specialists in different fields should work with the woman in labor using the latest technologies and modern equipment. That is why the operation involved a team of three teams of surgeons – obstetricians, gynecologists, urologists and vascular surgeons – who worked according to a clear algorithm. As a result, a complex organ-preserving operation was performed: a corporal cesarean section with placental excision and metroplasty,” the clinic said.
The team of doctors used blood-saving technologies, including an aortic balloon and a modern Cell saver (autohemotransfusion system), which minimized blood loss and reduced the use of donor blood.
“The doctors managed to perform a successful operation. The woman in labor managed to preserve her uterus and, if she wishes, she can become a mother for the fourth time,” the clinic said.
The patient and her newborn daughter are now at home, both healthy and feeling well.
Leleka Multifunctional Medical Center is one of the leading Ukrainian clinics in the field of obstetrics, gynecology, and general surgery. The medical center practices medical protocols approved in Ukraine, the United States and Western Europe. The Leleka Center for Modern Surgery provides surgical gynecology, mammology, vascular surgery (phlebology), proctology and urology, endocrine surgery, plastic, abdominal, bariatric, outpatient surgery, and endoscopy.
In 2019, Leleka was the first in Ukraine to receive JCI accreditation, one of the world’s most prestigious quality standards for medical institutions. The standard is based on the American system of medical accreditation of medical institutions based on the management of patient outcomes.
The JCI International Division accredits hospitals in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America, and now in Ukraine. JCI annually updates its accreditation standards to expand its patient safety goals.
Doctors note an increase in the number of preventive examinations and referrals related to advanced forms of diseases.
“We are now seeing an increase in the number of preventive examinations in various areas. At the same time, we have a situation with surgical interventions for more advanced forms of problems,” Vadym Zukin, chief operating officer of the Leleka multidisciplinary medical center, told Interfax-Ukraine.
He emphasized that “in 2022, many Ukrainians cared less about their health for obvious reasons.”
“We are already feeling the negative impact of the war on public health. This applies even to those who were not directly affected by the war,” said the director of the medical center.
Zukin also noted that the clinic has seen an increase in demand for pregnancy management services.
“We predict that compared to the first half of 2023, the number of births in Kyiv will gradually increase over the next six months and in early 2024, but these figures will be quite far from the pre-war levels,” he said.
At the same time, according to Zukin, Ukraine currently has a “very strange situation with vaccination,” in particular due to a shortage of vaccines.
“Everyone recognizes that it is useful, patients are willing to pay for it themselves, but there is a significant shortage of many vaccines in Ukraine,” he said.
Commenting on the prospects for regional development, particularly in the de-occupied regions, Zukin noted that he currently sees no opportunities for regional development.
“Opening regional branches of the medical center requires significant investments. Moreover, our institution is 99% funded by patients’ donations. At the same time, we need to understand that quality medicine is quite expensive. Therefore, despite our great desire to help the population of the de-occupied territories, it is too early to talk about opening branches there,” he said.
At the same time, Zukin believes that “under the current conditions, it is impossible to launch medical institutions as serious market players in those areas.”
Commenting on the effectiveness of private clinics’ participation in the national healthcare system, Zukin noted that “private medicine can be very useful for the general healthcare system due to its high management efficiency and flexibility.”
In turn, Vadym Shekman, CEO of Dobrobut Medical Network, said that one of the recent trends is that “medicine, which used to develop more actively in Kyiv, is now developing in Ukrainian regions, because there is a demand for quality medicine everywhere.”
“We are looking at this carefully not only from the perspective of potential acquisition of interesting institutions, but also from the perspective of possible partnership with regional clinics for which we can be a center of expertise. In fact, our goal and dream is to build a medical network of such a scale that high-quality medical care will be available to Ukrainians wherever they are,” he said.
Mr. Shekman noted that Dobrobut Medical Network “has always seen itself as a national player.”
“The plans to enter other cities with medical centers remain in force. The war has made adjustments to these plans, they have shifted slightly in time. We will realize these intentions after our victory,” he said.
At the same time, commenting on the possible prospects of opening clinics in the de-occupied regions, Shekman noted that “private medicine implies that a person has to pay for medical services out of his or her own pocket, and accordingly, the appropriate economic situation should be created in the de-occupied cities.”
“We would be happy to open in the liberated Ukrainian territories as soon as the opportunity arises,” he said.
In general, Shekman believes that “it is impossible to create a high-quality medical system without involving business.”
“Our state simply will not have enough money in the budget to rebuild and create the healthcare system we need. Healthcare in the world is becoming more expensive every day, and we must be ready to meet these challenges. Today, private healthcare is developing in Ukraine because there is a demand for quality healthcare and services. It cannot be said that many private healthcare facilities are now working with the NHSU, as the packages it offers do not include all costs and are lower than the cost of private clinics,” he said.
Mr. Shekman emphasized the importance of the fact that “the state has started to move towards private business.”
“To attract foreign investment, we need to create a system that is attractive to investors, so that they understand not only what to invest in, but also how they can get their money back. And this does not mean that healthcare will be exclusively paid for – in the context of competition, the cost of services usually decreases. And today, let’s be honest, there is no free medicine in Ukraine,” he said.
For his part, Serhiy Katsan, deputy director of the Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (Odesa) for Scientific and Medical Work, noted that recent trends include the consequences of an increase in the number of patients admitted to the clinic “with advanced stages of eye diseases, with complications, which further leads to longer treatment periods, inability to overcome the disease with therapeutic methods, and the need for surgical treatment…”.
“First of all, this concerns patients with inflammatory diseases of the eye and ophthalmic oncology. The number of patients in the department of microsurgical treatment of children’s eye diseases has also increased,” he said.
FILATOV INSTITUTE, MEDICAL EXAMINATION, MEDICINE, SERGIY_KATSAN, Лелека
Leleka multidisciplinary medical center has extended the international accreditation of Joint Commission International (JCI) for 2023.
The medical center told Interfax-Ukraine that Leleka is the first and only clinic in Ukraine accredited by JCI. The basis for the extension was the current agreement between the company and the Joint Commission International, which deals with the accreditation of medical clinics.
“The Joint Commission International has extended the validity of the Leleka medical center certificate, which confirms the center’s compliance with international qualification standards for providing medical care to patients and organizational management in healthcare,” the medical center reported.
The medical center said that the clinic minimizes risks in both medical and non-medical processes, and also controls the use of modern treatment protocols.
As reported, in 2019 Leleka medical center was the first in Ukraine to receive JCI accreditation, one of the most prestigious global quality standards for medical institutions. The standard is based on the U.S. system of medical accreditation of medical institutions, based on the management of patient outcomes.
The international branch of JCI accredits hospitals in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America, and now in Ukraine. JCI updates its accreditation standards annually, expanding on patient safety goals.
The Leleka multifunctional medical center is one of the leading Ukrainian clinics in the field of obstetrics, gynecology, and general surgery. The medical center practices medical protocols approved in Ukraine, the United States and Western Europe.
The clinic provides medical care to patients from 32 countries. The Leleka Center for Modern Surgery works in the field of operative and gynecology, mammology, vascular surgery (phlebology), proctological and urological operations, endocrine surgery, plastic, abdominal, bariatric, outpatient surgery and endoscopy.
The number of insurance partners of the multidisciplinary medical center for the whole family “Leleka” (Kiev, Pushcha-Vodytsia) reached 20, as it is reported in the clinic.
It is also noted that the insurance partners of the clinic, in particular, are IC “ARX”, IG “TAS”, IC “Alpha Insurance”, IC “UNICA”, IC “Providna”, ASK “INGO”, IC “Universalna”, IC “TAS”, “USIC”. Besides “Leleka” works with the assistance companies “Mars-Assistance”, “SOS-service”, “Premier-Assistance”, AP Companyiz, Savitar-group, Arsenal-Assistance.
According to the report since September 2022 medical center began providing not only medical care in gynecology, childbirth and pregnancy management, but also surgical treatment of a wide range of diseases not only for women but also for men. In particular, the clinic provides services in vascular surgery, mammology, proctology, urology, endocrine, plastic and ambulatory surgery.
Leleka Medical Center follows evidence-based medical protocols, approved in Ukraine, the U.S. and Western Europe. During 5 years of its functioning the medical center was trusted by patients from 32 countries of the world.
According to the report the medical center is the only one in Ukraine that has a prestigious American accreditation JCI, gold standard of quality in the world of health care.
“Our priorities are implementation of medical innovations and guarantee of qualitative medical assistance”, – the director general of medical center “Leleka” Valery Zukin marks.
