Ukraine opens 200-bed perinatal centre

26 June 2012

A new Regional Perinatal Center (RPC) with the capacity of 200 beds has been opened in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk. This is the latest centre to open as part of the "New Life" program launched by the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych.

There are six such centres up and running and there are plans to open one such centre in every region of Ukraine by the end of 2012.

The New RPC consists of obstetrics and gynaecology wards with a capacity of 4000 births a year, two operating rooms, intensive care units for newborns and women as well as modern diagnostics equipment. It enables the centre with its 560 doctors to offer a living chance to children and infants who weigh a little over a pound.

The total cost of the project is estimated at US$12.2 million, which includes a little over US$3 million worth of modern medical equipment installed in the new centre.

Dnipropetrovsk Perinatal Center
The Dnipropetrovsk Perinatal Center

Healthcare reform programme

A Ukraine kicked off a new healthcare reform programme in January 2011 with a pilot project covering the Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Vinnytsya regions. The first perinatal center to open was in Dnipropetrovsk region in December 2011 in Kryvyi Rih. Since its opening, the 154-bed centre with 3,000 births annual capacity has delivered more than 1,400 births.

In 2012, the pilot program has been gradually extended to most of Ukraine's regions. The national system is expected to come online in 2013 accordance with a new law establishing the general rules and principles for healthcare services in Ukraine.

Ukraine's current healthcare system is regarded as highly ineffective due to the model for funding, which prevents the state from ensuring a decent level of healthcare services. The main goal of the pilot is to determine a new approach to healthcare funding that will uphold the interests of those who need healthcare services and those who provide them.

 

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