Another institution that has received grant aid from the European Academy of Pediatrics (EAP), thanks to the efforts of the Ukrainian Academy of Pediatric Specialties (UAPS), is the municipal non-profit enterprise of the Kyiv Regional Council “Kyiv Regional Children’s Hospital” in Boyarka. The humanitarian grant included 10,000 euros for the purchase of medical equipment, which is so important for their little patients.

Thus, in December 2022, the institution that provides highly specialized medical care to children from all over the Kyiv region received two new highly functional beds and two bedside tables which were used to equip the surgery department and the intensive care unit.

The hospital has treated about 10,000 children, and has done more than 5,000 surgical interventions this year. The bed fund numbers 305 beds, of which 12 belong to the departments of anesthesiology and intensive care for children.

Although the hospital was located in the immediate vicinity of the combat zone and Kyiv’s defense line, and despite the fact that a part of the Kyiv region was occupied by the invaders, it has not closed its doors for even a minute, but continued to work day and night.

“The hospital works around the clock throughout the whole wartime period. All of us – nurses, the operating room, and the team of surgeons. There were patients who were injured as a result of fighting. The war has affected the way the hospitals operate, but despite all the difficulties, we continue to provide help to those who need it” – Serhiy Naista, head of the surgical department – this is where one of the purchased high-functional beds is located, thanks to which patients will receive professional care and feel more comfortable.

Some workers were forced to move to a safer place, but most continued to hold the medical front during the invaders’ offensive, staying in the hospital for days.

“It was not easy. We faced many challenges: to provide food and transportation of employees to their workplaces, to provide the necessary medicine and supplies so that the institution could offer medical care 24/7 with no interruptions.” – says the general director Savinova Kateryna Borysivna.

Every air raid alarm announced over the loudspeaker means that transportable patients are being transferred to an equipped safe room (basement).

“The unit was working at full capacity, children were constantly in the department, we had to drive ourselves to bring premature babies in severe conditions from the maternity wards of the Kyiv region.” – Vasyl Kachkan, head of the intensive care unit. “At first we tried going down into the basement (bomb shelter), but then realized that for premature babies, transportation, relocation and disconnection from artificial ventilation devices can only bring harm, so we organized a place in the corridor, safe according to the ‘Two walls’ rule,” continues Vasyl Kachkan, a doctor who has been working at the institution for 22 years.

Currently, the hospital continues to provide round-the-clock urgent somatic and surgical care to the people of the Kyiv region and internally displaced persons(internal refugees that have not left the country). We also send field teams to the de-occupied territories of the cities of Irpin and Bucha.

No matter what difficulties we encounter on the way, we are sure that the staff of the Kyiv Regional Children’s Hospital, supported by the European Academy of Pediatrics and the Ukrainian Academy of Pediatric Specialties, will brave any challenge for the sake of the future of young Ukrainians.