Today, 27 November, the Clinical Centre for Children’s Medicine (Western Ukrainian Specialised Children’s Medical Centre), a municipal institution of the Lviv Oblast Council, presented the results of the project “Creating Comfortable and Safe Conditions for the Treatment of Seriously Ill Children in Lviv”.
The project was implemented in 2023-2024 by the WINGS OF HOPE charitable foundation with the support of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic and the MEDEVAC programme. The total cost of the project is over UAH 9 million.
As part of the project, the premises of the Nephrology, Dialysis and Kidney Transplant Clinic were reconstructed: two wards for post-transplant children were created, the dialysis room, patient room and staff space were renovated, and a separate room for parents and children was set up.
In addition, 7 wards of the Specialised Surgery Clinic were reconstructed, 8 wards of the Paediatric Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic were renovated, and air conditioning systems were installed in 7 wards.
“Thanks to our Czech partners and the WINGS OF HOPE charity foundation, we have created comfortable conditions for children who have undergone kidney transplants and receive high-quality treatment.
The Clinical Centre for Paediatric Medicine is a reference hospital for the whole of Ukraine. Children with cancer from all over the country are treated here, including those who were treated at the Kyiv Okhmatdyt.
I am very grateful to the doctors who are heroes for our children,” said Yuriy Kholod, acting head of the Lviv Regional Council.
Yuriy Kholod also noted that the hospital is completing the renovation of the operating unit where kidney transplants will be performed at the expense of the regional budget. In total, in 2024, the Clinical Centre for Paediatric Medicine will receive about UAH 50 million from the regional budget, and next year it is planned to invest up to UAH 100 million. It is important that the team of doctors is working to attract additional extra-budgetary resources. Currently, the Clinical Centre for Children’s Medicine is implementing 18 development projects.
According to Roman Kizyma, Acting Director General of the Clinical Centre for Children’s Medicine, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Western Ukrainian Specialised Children’s Medical Centre has become the main evacuation hub and assistance centre for all seriously ill children in Ukraine.
“We accept children with cancer, onco-haematological and nephrological diseases, those in need of various types of dialysis, those suffering from orphan diseases and immunodeficiency conditions, as well as children in need of organ and bone marrow transplants.
Before the project was implemented, some wards did not have boxes for children after kidney transplantation, had an outdated ventilation system, and had excessive solarity in the wards, which resulted in high room temperatures. This caused discomfort to seriously ill children, their relatives and medical staff,” said Roman Kizima.
According to Natalia Lipska, director of the WINGS OF HOPE charity foundation, the project covered children with the most complex diagnoses in the hospital to make them feel comfortable and their parents feel comfortable.
“When parents are calm, the child is calm. And 50% of successful treatment is the child’s mood,” said Lipska.
In their turn, Consul General of the Czech Republic in Lviv David Novy and MEDEVAC coordinator of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic Theodore Barton declared that they were ready to continue to help the Clinical Centre for Children’s Medicine and that funds for the next joint project had already been allocated.