The Medical Commission has endorsed the reorganisation of hospitals in Mykolaiv and the transfer of Maternity Hospital No. 3 to regional ownership

Members of the Mykolaiv City Council’s Health Committee have backed the reorganisation of the city’s hospitals. It is now proposed that three medical facilities — the Emergency Medical Care Hospital (EMCH), Hospital №1 and City Children’s Hospital №2 — be merged with City Hospital №4.

They adopted the relevant decision during a meeting on Tuesday, 7 April, according to NikVesti.

According to the committee chair, Hanna Nord, this issue is currently a matter of urgency for the city, as the three cluster hospitals to be formed will receive increased funding from the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU). The project involves merging City Hospital №1, the Emergency Medical Care Hospital and City Children’s Hospital №2 with Mykolaiv City Hospital №4.

Iryna Shamrai, Head of the Health Department at Mykolaiv City Council, emphasised that the city is under time pressure to make a decision.

«We have reached the point where, if a decision is not taken, we will not be able to form a viable network in time, as we must submit it to the Ministry of Health by 17 April. I therefore have a huge request to the councillors to support the decision; this will enable the institutions to continue their work without hindrance,» said Iryna Shamrai.

During the committee meeting, heads of medical institutions were present and confirmed their readiness for the merger. In particular, Mariia Hrachova, director of City Hospital №1, noted that the reform could help address staff shortages.

«We have been raising this issue for several years now. We understand that for the hospital to survive and provide the necessary medical care, a merger is essential. Unfortunately, we cannot build a new hospital that would meet all the requirements. Today, we are focusing our efforts on development. There is a very severe staff shortage. We hope that the merger of hospitals will enable us to offer young doctors who have graduated from university the opportunity to come and work in Mykolaiv. If this does not happen, the city will not be able to provide sufficient funding to attract young people,» said Mariia Hrachova.

At the same time, she noted that the reorganisation should not affect the current staff, as medical professionals are «worth their weight in gold».

Speaking about the problems the hospital is currently facing, Oleksandr Demianov, the chief physician of the Emergency Medical Care Hospital, said that there are services which, as a general hospital, they cannot access. This has resulted in the hospital losing up to 5 million hryvnias in the first three months of 2026.

«Since the start of 2026, the Emergency Medical Care Hospital has been losing 5 million hryvnias a year due to the lack of a cluster structure. For the same patients and the same volume of work, we could be receiving significantly more,» said Oleksandr Demianov.

Liubov Savchuk, director of City Children’s Hospital №2, also supported the merger. Meanwhile, Larysa Derhunova, head of Hospital №4 — to which other facilities are planned to be merged — noted that the workload would increase, but assured that the staff were ready for this.

«I agree with my colleagues’ view that, given the current circumstances, we need to unite and continue working as part of such a merger. It will be difficult, yes. But we are used to that. I think the workload will not fall solely on Hospital №4; it will be a burden for everyone. We will make decisions together, create the structure, and approve the staffing table. I think everything will work out. I’m in favour,» said Larysa Derhunova.

It should be noted that Anton Tabunschyk, the chairman of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, was also invited to today’s committee meeting. For his part, he added that Mykolaiv and the region are in the final stages of forming a hospital district.

«When a facility merges, one of the advantages is that it can contract for certain packages with lower risks. In the long term, the institutions will become stronger. Management will be more complex, but all professionals are coming together to adopt a unified position, so there is a positive outlook. We are talking about Hospitals №4, №3 and №5,» said Anton Tabunschyk.

The decision to merge was supported by all members of the committee with 6 votes in favour.

Following this, the councillors considered the transfer of Maternity Hospital №3 into the joint ownership of the region — to the Mykolaiv Regional Clinical Hospital. Hanna Nord explained that this necessity arose due to a significant decrease in the number of births, which is currently insufficient to receive funding from the National Health Service of Ukraine (NSZU).

The head of the city health department, Iryna Shamrai, added that Maternity Hospital №3 has a professional team in place and is fully equipped to National Health Service standards. The regional authorities will take over the facility with a ready-made reconstruction project.

«For the past nine years, the facility has been operating as a perinatal centre providing appropriate medical care. A highly professional team has been established there; today, this is recognised not only by us but also by representatives of the National Health Service Council, who have visited the facility on numerous occasions. This represents a very high standard of obstetric and gynaecological care at the regional level, which has long exceeded the scope of a specialised facility. They are fully equipped in accordance with the National Health Service of Ukraine’s requirements, enabling them to ensure the safety of women and children in the region. The only issue is the refurbishment of the premises. The city has already drawn up a project, which we are submitting alongside the facility. The region guarantees that appropriate conditions will be created there,» said Iryna Shamrai.

Hanna Nord addressed Chief Medical Officer Oleh Ishchenko, asking whether he believed such a merger might affect the staff:

«Will it affect the staff? Will it be better or worse?» asked the councillor.

«We don’t yet know how we will merge, or what it will be like. Of course, any merger has consequences and negative aspects. I hope we can reach an agreement and that there will only be positive aspects. I don’t think it will lead to negative changes. I hope that, with your help, the staff will not suffer during the merger. The regional hospital also has a team; we’ll have to find a way to merge them, but it’s hard for me to predict. There are different levels of people and professionalism. It will be difficult,» he replied.

«But there is no other way out,» remarked Hanna Nord.

«We’ll find a way,» added the chief physician.

Anton Tabunschyk, Chairman of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, commenting on this, noted that he supports preserving the staff and the now familiar working format of Maternity Hospital №3.

The transfer of Maternity Hospital №3 was also unanimously supported by all councillors.

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 Shamray, 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 medical staff 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 to expedite consideration of the issue of establishing a capable network of healthcare facilities.