The Project Informs Poltava Region Journalists about Hospital Care Reform

On the 26th of February 2009, in Poltava, the Project held a press-club meeting with the topic: “How Can Health Care Organization Be Improved”. The event was organized in order to inform the representatives of oblast and rayon mass media about current trends in health care system development, the main goal of Project activity and the work supported by Project in Poltava oblast on preparation and implementation of the secondary health care reform.

In Poltava oblast, which is the pilot region of the Project, is being carried out a number of activities regarding the health care system reform, which includes the hospital care reform. Journalists were informed of the activities in the oblast aimed at widening the network of primary health care facilities, training of family doctors, as well as introducing new methods of payment for their services, which would stimulate the quality improvement of primary health care services and efficient usage of corresponding resources.

With the support of Project experts, work is going on the optimization of hospital network, concentration of specialized hospital services on the inter-rayon level, and in prospective – establishment of inter-territorial communal non-commercial unions of rayon and city hospitals. The National Health Policy and Legal expert of the Project, Dr. Volodymyr Rudiy, pointed out that “the establishment of such unions is one of possible tools for the hospital care system reform in Ukraine, which has to facilitate the implementation of new approaches to planning and optimization of hospital network within the current legislation framework. This also facilitates functional restructuring of the amount of beds and ensures coherence and gradual integration of medical and social care. Organizing more efficient management of property, human and financial resources of the hospitals would lead to the improvement of health care quality».