Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Kuleba and Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko held a meeting with representatives of American medical and charitable organizations.
International partners, including President of the charitable organization Ukraine Focus, former Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia at USAID (2018–2021) Brock Daniel Bierman, General Counsel at the medical company AMC Healthcare Brent W. Yessin, and Director of Ukraine Focus in Ukraine Oleksandr Reshetkov, presented the concept of a project on the construction of four emergency hospitals and rehabilitation centers for veterans.
"We, Ukraine Focus and AMC Healthcare, look forward to collaborating with the government of Ukraine and the Ministry of Health to provide even more necessary assistance to the Ukrainian people," Brock Bierman said.
Ukraine Focus has already signed a memorandum with the Ministry of Health. On its part, the medical company AMC Healthcare provides professional advice in the healthcare sector, builds modular hospitals and medical facilities, and establishes management services for them.
Oleksiy Kuleba expressed gratitude to the partners for their timely and important assistance and initiatives already being implemented in Ukraine.
"The support of partner countries is crucial for Ukraine in the face of the full-scale invasion. On our part, we are ready to take all steps to ensure that the necessary assistance arrives as quickly as possible," the Deputy Head of the Office of the President said.
The hospitals proposed by the partners are planned to be built according to EU standards and can function either as independent facilities or as part of existing hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Additionally, each such facility will be equipped with a bomb shelter.
Health Minister Viktor Liashko said that during the full-scale war, nearly 1,700 medical facilities have already suffered due to hostile actions of the Russian army: 1,501 medical infrastructure objects have been damaged, and another 195 have been completely destroyed, with no possibility of further restoration. According to him, the biggest losses were incurred by the medical infrastructure in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson regions.
"It is crucial for us, despite such challenges to the healthcare system, to provide Ukrainians with access to medical assistance. The developments presented today – both the experience and technologies – are extremely relevant for Ukraine, especially for the de-occupied territories," the minister said.
The company Northwell Health is ready to contribute to the implementation of the ambitious project to build medical facilities by providing equipment and training specialists.