Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs, stated that the merger of hospitals would not affect their operations

The reorganisation of Mykolaiv’s hospitals by merging them into a single structure will not lead to hospital closures or staff cuts, but is merely a change in legal form to secure additional funding from the National Health Service of Ukraine.

This was stated by the chair of the standing committee, councillor Olena Kiseliova, during a meeting of the City Council’s Committee on Legal Affairs on 8 April, reports NikVesti.

The draft decision proposes merging four institutions into a single legal entity: City Hospital №1, the Emergency Medical Care Hospital, Children’s Hospital №2 and City Hospital №4. They will continue to operate as separate units and provide the same services.

As explained by Tetiana Dmytrova, deputy head of the city council’s municipal property department, the document is needed to establish a robust network of healthcare facilities. In cities of regional significance, the plan is to create one cluster hospital per 150,000 inhabitants, so Mykolaiv could establish three such hospitals.

According to her, cluster hospitals within such a network may receive increased funding from the National Health Service of Ukraine. This will improve the financial situation of the hospitals and allow funds to be directed towards salaries and development.

Commenting on the planned changes, Olena Kiseliova assured that virtually all facilities would remain in their current locations and operate as usual.

«To rule out any possible manipulation: in the material world, nothing disappears. The four institutions are still located in Mykolaiv, just as they were before. The buildings remain, and the staff continue to function as before. With this decision, the council is resolving a purely legal matter — the merger of the enterprises into a single institution. It is a sort of «medical consortium»which, for the purposes of its relationship with the National Health Service of Ukraine, will be a single legal entity,» explained Olena Kiseliova.

Iryna Shamrai, Head of the City Council’s Health Department, added that Mykolaiv and Kherson regions still do not have an approved capable network, meaning the region is missing out on the opportunity to receive increased funding.

«We are losing the coefficients that could have been used to develop these facilities. This is the last chance to merge the facilities and approve a capable network,» she noted.

In addition, the committee approved a draft decision on the transfer of the entire property complex of the Municipal Non-Profit Enterprise «Maternity Hospital №3» to the joint ownership of the local authorities of Mykolaiv region and the city’s withdrawal from the list of founders.

Councillor Olena Kiseliova noted that this would help relieve the financial burden on the city budget, as the facility serves women from across the region.

«Mothers-to-be who come to Mykolaiv from the region are a source of shared joy, but the financial burden should not fall on the city. This is how we address the requirements of the National Health Service of Ukraine and retain property rights to those properties that our community needs,» explained Olena Kiseliova.

She clarified that the city is retaining the premises where family doctors currently work. Members of the committee supported both issues unanimously. They are now to be considered by the city council session.

Earlier, members of the Mykolaiv City Council’s specialised health committee supported the reorganisation of the city’s hospitals. It is now proposed to merge three medical facilities into City Hospital №4: the Emergency Medical Care Hospital (EMCH), Hospital №1 and City Children’s Hospital №2.

In addition, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, hopes that city council members will support the reorganisation of the city’s hospitals at the session scheduled for 9 April.

Reorganisation of hospitals

The issue of hospital reorganisation has already been rejected twice by councillors at city council sessions. On 29 May, councillors unanimously removed the issue of merging the city’s medical facilities from the session’s agenda, as it had not been approved by the relevant and other committees.

Following this, on 8 June, councillors again considered the issue of reorganising municipal medical institutions. However, the proposals did not secure the necessary number of votes. As is known, the Mykolaiv Health Department put forward an initiative to reduce the number of hospitals in the city from six to three by merging them.

Iryna Shamrai, Head of the Mykolaiv Health Department, explained that the need to reorganise and merge large hospitals in Mykolaiv this year is due to the requirements of the National Health Service of Ukraine regarding full funding for medical services provided.

However, some councillors spoke out against the merger of hospitals. For instance, Olena Kiseliova, chair of the Mykolaiv City Council’s Committee on Legal Affairs and a councillor from the European Solidarity party, strongly criticised the plans to reorganise the city’s healthcare network.

Meanwhile, Olena Shaposhnikova, a councillor on the Mykolaiv City Council from the Propozytsiia party and a doctor at Family Clinic №4, spoke out against the reorganisation of primary healthcare centres. In her view, the merger will not deliver the expected savings, but may instead lead to a loss of funding, as well as patients and doctors.

Anna Nord, chair of the Mykolaiv City Council’s Health Committee, also noted that if decisions were taken to reorganise and merge Mykolaiv’s healthcare facilities, male doctors would lose their exemption from mobilisation.

The resolution of the issue regarding the merger of hospitals has stalled for the time being. At the session on 8 July, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych noted that he would discuss the reorganisation with the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, and the city and regional health departments.

On 21 August, members of the Mykolaiv City Council’s Committee on Human Rights, Children, Family, Law and Transparency appealed to the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, requesting that it expedite consideration of the issue of establishing a capable network of healthcare facilities.