The maternity ward at the hospital in Pivdennoukrainsk is being closed

Yuzhnoukrainsk City General Hospital. Photo: yuzhka.city

On the orders of Serhii Lupov, Chief Medical Officer of the Yuzhnoukrainsk City Hospital, the obstetrics and gynaecology department and the paediatric department are to be closed from September. Hospital staff are calling on the city authorities to take action.

Oksana Truliaeva, senior nurse in the paediatric department, has written about this on her Facebook page.

According to the order, from 1 September 2026, both departments are to cease operations as separate structural units of the hospital. In connection with this, the hospital administration is initiating a staff reduction process.

Screenshot of the order from Chief Medical Officer Serhii Lupov

Screenshot of the order issued by Chief Medical Officer Serhii Lupov

The HR department has been instructed to notify employees whose positions are subject to redundancy in writing by 1 July at the latest. Employees are to be offered all available vacancies within the hospital.

There are also plans to prepare a new staffing table by September, taking into account changes in the hospital’s organisational structure, and to submit it to the founder for approval.

The hospital management’s decision has caused concern among medical staff. Employees of the facility have appealed to the city authorities and the community, calling for the departments not to be closed.

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Oksana Truliaeva, senior nurse in the paediatric department, speaking on behalf of the staff, emphasised that the closure of these departments could significantly hinder the community’s access to medical care.

«Closing or downsizing these departments means that city residents will be forced to seek medical care dozens of kilometres from home. In critical situations, such a distance can cost people their health, and sometimes even their lives. The paediatric ward ensures the safety of our children. The obstetrics and gynaecology ward represents the birth of new life and the health of the women in our community,» the statement reads.

The staff called on local authorities, councillors and the relevant bodies to reconsider the decision and find a way to preserve the departments they consider vital to the community.

After the order was shared on social media, the hospital’s director, Serhii Lupov, commented on the situation. He stated that the decision was not driven by the administration’s desire to cut back on medical care, but by the consequences of healthcare reform, the demographic situation and the requirements of the National Health Service of Ukraine.

Serhii Lupov published the hospital’s birth rate statistics

According to the hospital director, the birth rate in the community has fallen significantly in recent years, and the number of births at the hospital does not meet the requirements for the department to function properly.

«Contrary to the sensationalist comments, the hospital is managed not by assumptions, but by legislation, the requirements of the National Health Service of Ukraine, staffing levels and the actual number of patients. If you are so well versed in healthcare reform, then explain to the community how a hospital director can influence the demographic crisis when the birth rate has been falling for many years running and today there are only 1–2 births in the maternity ward over several days,» said Serhii Lupov.

He also emphasised that the hospital management cannot force the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU) to fund departments that do not meet state criteria.

At the same time, the director stated that he is prepared to consider proposals to retain the departments if realistic mechanisms for their funding and continued operation are put forward.

Screenshot of a Facebook post

It should be noted that due to the specifics of healthcare reform and insufficient funding for certain healthcare service packages, the hospital has found itself in a difficult financial situation. A special working group was set up at the hospital to find ways out of the crisis. However, no final proposals have been agreed upon yet. Earlier, at a meeting of the South Ukrainian City Council’s parliamentary committee on healthcare, it was reported that the hospital’s director, Serhii Lupov, had refused to participate in the working group’s activities.

Following the discussion, the committee decided to recommend that the hospital management refrain from taking any action to reduce staff numbers in the maternity and paediatric wards until the working group has completed its work and drawn up conclusions regarding the future operation of the medical facility.