The doctors of HED wrote another letter to Kim due to the reduction of doctors: «You promised that zero would be laid off»

The doctors of the Mykolaiv Emergency Hospital said that the city's health care management, together with the head doctor of the institution, are planning to reduce the medical staff and one of the surgical departments. The doctors appealed to the head of the regional state administration, Vitaly Kim, with a request to save the medical institution and its staff.

Oleksandr Suvorov, a surgeon of the second surgical department of the hospital , published the relevant text of the letter on behalf of the medical staff of the HED on his Facebook page.

The hospital workers said about the increase in the number of dismissals among the medical staff, which threatens the normal functioning of the hospital, especially in the conditions of military conflict.

— We, the doctors of the Medical Center, fulfill our duties with full responsibility, trying to preserve the number of lives in the conditions of war. However, instead of gratitude and support, we face the threat of losing our jobs, the letter says.

Doctors say the staffing cuts began with the arrival of a new administration at the city's health department, which they say first cut the department's bed pool and is now looking to close one of the surgical departments.

— With the arrival of the new administration of the city health care department, they began to reduce first the bed fund of the departments (from 60 in each department to 30), and then to try to close one of them completely. Although we almost always have 40 or even 45 patients under treatment. It took a lot of effort for the team of our branches to convince the administration not to do this. And time proved us right. Especially the first months of the war. We would not be able to cope with one branch. From 60 to 80 wounded people arrived every day. Up to 12 operating tables were deployed at the same time, the doctors say.

After a decrease in the number of injured people coming to the hospital, the administration of the city's health department decided to reconsider the issue of closing one of the departments and firing the medical staff who oppose this decision.

In the first two quarters of 2023, the staff of the hospital decreased by 60 employees. Doctors, nurses and junior staff are opposing these drastic cuts, stressing the need to maintain preparedness for any situation, especially in an environment where the war is still ongoing.

— The number of wounded is less, but they are still there. And surgical pathology of the civilian population. Both departments are more than 100% full. And here again the administration of the city health department together with the chief doctor of the hospital mentioned their desire to close one of the surgical departments. And release the most active opponents of this reduction! Doctors with a higher category, long experience, who have their own opinion.

A large number of nurses and nurses are also being cut. How will the hospital function without them!? In the first two quarters of 2023, 60 employees were cut in our hospital. Of them: 21 — doctors; 25 — nurses; 13 — nurses. And others (not doctors), only one out of 98. It seems that others (not medical workers — note), hospitals need more than medical workers?! The war is not over yet. We must be ready for any situation. With one department, we will not be able to provide surgical care in full. It seems that the administration does not care. We do not yet know what their goals are. But in these difficult times, we should unite and help the military and public, and not create obstacles, the letter states.

The letter also states that the work of the HED is unique, as it performs the functions of a military hospital and provides assistance to victims of polytrauma.

— From the first days of the war, we all stood together to protect the health of our wounded soldiers, our injured citizens. For weeks we lived in the hospital, many hours did not leave the operating tables. Pain, blood, moans, tears. We tried to save everyone, but we didn't always succeed. And then part of the surgeon died along with the dead soldier... It was always like that. That's why doctors don't live long. Work for them is not just a profession - it is their life! They devote themselves to their profession completely without any residue! Losing a profession for us is like death, losing the meaning of life. Our hospital is a unique medical facility. Such a hospital no longer exists in the city or region. In addition to providing assistance to citizens with acute surgical pathology, we treat victims with polytrauma, when the victim arrives with damage to many organs and systems. Therefore, from the first hour of the war and until now, we have been performing the function of a military hospital and an emergency medical hospital, the doctors emphasize.

The medical staff recalled that previously the head of Mykolayiv RMA Vitalii Kim promised that in the order to reduce the number of doctors in the emergency medical care hospital due to the decrease in funding of the NSHU institution, «zero» real positions will be released, but this promise has not been fulfilled.

Doctors are asking why other medical facilities lack funding for salaries and bonuses, while their facility, which is considered one of the best, is constantly running short of funds.

— Dear Mr. Governor, during the briefing on September 19, you stated that the order to reduce the number of doctors at the National Medical Center due to the decrease in funding of the NSHU institution does not refer to real positions. You promised, «Zero will be released.» The head of the city's health care department also promised that there will be no reforms or cuts in doctors until the end of military operations. So it's just words!? For some reason, in other hospitals of the city and region, there is enough money for both salaries and bonuses!? Our hospital's work performance is one of the best, but there is still not enough money... Maybe it's not us!? Dear Mr. Governor, we ask you to help preserve our unique hospital, our surgical service, our surgeons, our medical workers. And we, in turn, promise to give all our strength and knowledge to protect the health and lives of our population and the fighters of our valiant army!, summed up the medical workers.

We will remind you that in September NikVesti reported that Oleksandr Demianov, the head of the CNP «City Emergency Hospital» of the Mykolaiv City Council, signed an order to reduce the number of employees due to a cut in the funding of the institution by the National Health Service of Ukraine.

On March 31, 2023 , there was a similar reduction of doctors and nurses, however, the chief doctor Oleksandr Demyanov and the deputy head of Mykolayiv RMA Yurii Hranaturov claimed that it will affect only empty vacancies.

This turned out to be untrue, after which Vitalii Kim, the head of Mykolayiv RMA, made a speech and accused his team of having «been told one thing, but it turned out the other way around.» After that, Vitalii Kim stated at a session of the Mykolaiv City Council that they were tasked not only with compensating for the lost medical personnel, but also with finding new doctors that Mykolaiv needed. At the same time, Yurii Hranaturov said that the head of RMA, Vitalii Kim, intends to find a state subsidy for the payment of salaries to the doctors of the emergency medical care hospital.

Inadequate condition of hospitals

We will remind that after President Volodymyr Zelenskyi criticized the condition of the wards in the Mykolaiv Regional Children's Hospital , they started repairing the surgical department and installed air conditioners in eight wards.

After this incident, the head of Mykolayiv RMA Vitalii Kim drew attention to the low speed of work of the temporary commission of the regional council on the inspection of medical facilities. He also called on the residents of Mykolaiv to send complaints and suggestions regarding changes in the medical system to e-mail, so that these appeals will be considered by the appropriate group. After anonymous complaints, Vitalii Kim announced the dismissal of the chief doctors of the medical facilities if he became convinced of their incompetence.

Corruption in hospitals

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For the second time, the head of RMA changed this situation a month later and once again announced personnel changes. The reason for this was a different situation in the medical field of the region: the law enforcement officers exposed a large-scale scheme of making money on evasions in the Mykolaiv regional mental hospital.

After that, the court ordered a preventive measure against the policeman who was responsible for searching for evaders. However, the suspicion and the selection of a preventive measure have not yet been served on the doctors who participated in the scheme of illegal earnings, in particular on the chief doctor Viktor Taran.

Reacting to this situation, the head of the Mykolayiv RMA for the medical field, Yurii Hranaturov, said that the exposed scheme in the regional mental health center is an isolated case in the medical field of the region. He believes that the RMA health care department is not responsible for the activities of the chief physician.

At the same time, Yurii Hranaturov announced that the SSU will conduct an additional inspection at the regional mental health center to find out whether other doctors are involved in the corrupt scheme of making money on evasion.

Later it became known that the acting director of the Mykolaiv Regional Center for Mental Health, Viktor Taran, who, according to the SSU, organized the scheme for the production of certificates for evaders, will remain in his post.

Reduction of doctors

However, these two cases are not the only ones in the medical field of Mykolaiv Oblast. As early as March 31, 2023, the editorial office of NikVesti received and published a copy of the order of the chief doctor of the emergency medical hospital, Oleksandr Demianov, on the reduction of the number of employees. According to him, this decision is due to underfunding : this year the hospital received only 91 million hryvnias from the National Health Service, while last year it received 128 million hryvnias.

In response to this publication, officials began to declare en masse that this decision will not affect working doctors, as it only applies to vacancies. At the same time, the health care department assured that the reduction will not affect the quality of service, and the military governor explained this by reforms in medicine.

However, NikVesti conducted its own investigation and found out that such assurances turned out to be false. It turned out that the hospital staff faced a choice: reduce the number of doctors or reduce wages. Thus, the medical staff of the hospital, which treated severely wounded people around the clock in the first months of the war, had to agree to a 25% cut in wages. This reduction creates a number of problems, in particular, 6 neurosurgeons out of 12 are left to work in neurosurgery. At the same time, not all of them have the right to operate independently.

However, in April it became known that the orders for the transfer of surgeons to 0.75 rates were canceled in the Mykolaiv Emergency Hospital.