Since 2018, Trostyanets city amalgamared hromda (AH) was the first in Sumy region, and one of the few in Ukraine today, to experiment and take over the Trostyanetska Central District Hospital, which served almost 40 thousand patients.
The need for the maintenance of the hospital at the beginning of 2018 was 42 million UAH, but was provided by the state in the amount of 22 million UAH. The city authorities faced the problem that the hospital building is not able to retain heat as much as possible. Heat loss occurs through walls, windows, roof, ventilation.
Every year, 4 million UAH are spent on heating. (For comparison, in a hospital, heating 1 m3 costs 120 UAH, and in kindergartens of the city – 40 UAH per 1 m3). Unstable temperature conditions lead to disruption of the treatment process. Annual energy costs, which make up to 10% of the institution’s budget, indicate inefficient energy use. When using firewood as fuel (instead of gas) for the operation of the hospital boiler room, the difference will be about 25 thousand UAH per day.
It was decided to gradually introduce alternative energy-efficient measures: wall insulation, replacement of window blocks and improvement of the lighting system, etc. The hospital was chronically underfunded: bloated staff, low wages, unpaid leave for staff, computers and the Internet were almost absent. As a result, staff turnover due to uncertainty about the future, poor treatment and poor living conditions, and therefore the distrust of community residents in the medical field.
The city authorities decided to immediately consider the hospital as one of the elements of the community’s competitiveness in the long term. Because when there is no hospital, going to another city is already an inconvenience. Both for its residents and for investors.
The mayor set himself the goal of making one of the best hospitals in Ukraine, with modern diagnostics and fast service. All modernization was carried out in the context of preparation for the second stage of the medical reform, with the aim of attracting patients not only from his community in the future, to earn money on the principle that money follows the patient.
In 2018-2019, the city authorities solved a number of important tasks:
- staff optimization, which resulted in savings of 6 million annually while retaining doctors
- use of the experience of reforming the medical industry in Poland
- free WI FI and high-quality high-speed Internet were provided throughout the hospital, new computer equipment was purchased for doctors
- modern repairs were made to the therapeutic, neurological, gynecological, reproductive, radiological departments, and a European-level laboratory
- modern medical equipment was purchased, including using the fundraising program
- implementation of energy-efficient measures: a thorough heat audit, high-quality windows with a thermal conductivity coefficient of 0.95 were purchased; negotiations were initiated with NEFCO regarding a loan for the thermal modernization of the entire hospital complex
- As a result: without any additional subventions from the state, regional or district budgets of the KNP Trostyanets City Hospital is beginning to transform into a modern medical institution. The trust of the population is growing, and doctors are regaining confidence in the future.
Currently, this is almost the only example when, taking into account its development strategy, the community not only took ownership of the district hospital, but also began clear changes that contribute to its transformation into a true European-level hospital.
