Maternity hospital №3 in Mykolaiv is underfunded due to falling birth rates

Maternity Hospital №3 in Mykolaiv does not receive sufficient funding from the National Health Service of Ukraine due to the critical demographic situation in the city. The facility requires additional funding from the city budget.

This was announced by Iryna Shamrai, head of the Mykolaiv City Council's Health Department, during a meeting of the city council's standing committee on health and social protection on Monday, 26 January, according to NikVesti.

According to her, the number of births in Mykolaiv continues to decline, which directly affects the amount of funding the institution receives from the NHSU.

«Maternity hospital №3 is currently an institution that does not receive sufficient funding from the National Health Service of Ukraine due to the demographic crisis. In 2025, 2,173 babies were born here. This is 200 fewer than in 2024,» said Iryna Shamrai.

She explained that due to the decrease in the number of births, the single-profile medical institution cannot cover its expenses on its own, in particular the remuneration of its staff.

«Therefore, this demographic situation means that the single-profile facility needs additional funding. Despite the fact that we have opened a mammology department there, a package will be concluded with the National Health Service of Ukraine. But there are not enough funds for them to support themselves and pay salaries,» she added.

According to the head of the health department, over the past year, an additional 19 million 744 thousand hryvnias were allocated from the city budget to support the activities of maternity hospital №3.

At the same time, Iryna Shamrai noted that maternity hospitals №1 and №2 do not face similar financial difficulties, as they operate as part of multi-profile hospitals.

«They also receive salaries because they operate as part of a multidisciplinary hospital,» she explained.

Earlier, the Mykolaiv Regional Council announced a meeting on the reorganisation of City Maternity Hospital №3 by merging it with the Mykolaiv Regional Clinical Hospital. The meeting was held as part of the formation of a capable hospital network in the region and the development of organisational and legal steps for further decision-making.

The meeting was attended by the chairman of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, Anton Tabunschyk, the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, his deputy, Anatolii Petrov, the chair of the relevant regional council committee, Iryna Shabilianova, the head of the city health department, Iryna Shamrai, and the chair of the city health committee, Hanna Nord.

The issue of reorganising Maternity Hospital №3 is being considered by a specially created working group. After all the preparatory stages have been completed, the relevant decision must be approved by the regional council and sent to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

We would like to remind you that in December 2025, it became known that doctors at Maternity Hospital №3 in Mykolaiv had not been paid more than 3 million hryvnias in salaries for November.

Medical reform is being discussed in Mykolaiv: what is known

Recently, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych and Head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration Vitalii Kim discussed what a capable network of medical institutions should look like. At the meeting, they considered the issue of merging hospitals and transferring Maternity Hospital №3 to the communal property of the region.

According to Iryna Shamrai, head of the Mykolaiv Health Department, the meeting took place on 23 October. In addition to regional and city leaders, the meeting was attended by relevant deputies and heads of health departments. It was agreed that the capable network of hospitals would have three cluster institutions: hospitals №3, №4, and №5.

• Hospital №5 (director Olena Terentyeva), located in the Korabelny district, is not planned to be reformed.
• Hospital №1 (director Maria Grachova, city council deputy from the Propozytsia party) and the Emergency Medical Care Hospital (EMCH) (director Oleksandr Demianov) are planned to be mergedwith City Hospital №4 (director Larysa Derhunova).
• Hospital №3 (Dubky) (Director Yurii Diachuk) is planned to be merged with City Children's Hospital №2 (Director Liubov Savchuk).

However, Maternity Hospital №3 (director Oleh Ishchenko) in the Namyv microdistrict, which was previously planned to be merged with Hospital №3, is now planned to be transferred from Mykolaiv's ownership to regional communal ownership.

The transfer of Maternity Hospital №3 raised many questions for Anna Nord, chair of the Mykolaiv City Council's Health Care Committee. She noted that the programme for the development and support of municipal institutions allocates 19 million hryvnias for Maternity Hospital No. 3. But why allocate funds if it will be transferred to regional ownership?

In turn, Iryna Shamrai, head of the Mykolaiv Health Department, assured that there would be no problems with this.

It later became known that Maternity Hospital №3 in the Namiv microdistrict is planned to be merged with the Mykolaiv Regional Clinical Hospital due to the decline in the birth rate in the region.