In 2023, Ukrainian clinics restored their work taking into account the situation and challenges of wartime and opened new directions, in particular, taking into account the needs for the treatment of war injuries, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

The heads of leading private clinics in Ukraine announced this during a roundtable discussion at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

"In 2023, we regained our position in market share for our usual services - childbirth and pregnancy. There we have already successfully transformed into a multidisciplinary medical center, added new services and were able to develop in several new areas, such as obesity treatment, breast and phlebology surgery, pediatrics," said Vadym Zukin, operating director and co-owner of the Leleka multidisciplinary medical center.

At the same time, he called the clinic's confirmation of international accreditation by Joint Commission International (JCI) for 2024 the greatest achievement in 2023.

"In 2024, we plan to develop the services that we already have, in areas new to us, as well as launch several unique services for Ukraine, which we will be able to talk about at the end of the year," Zukin said, adding: "We can only talk about plans thanks to our Armed Forces, our defenders, who are now protecting us at the front."

In turn, the chief medical director of the Dobrobut medical network (Kyiv), Oleksandr Linchevsky, recalled the opening in 2023 of a new, renovated eight-story building on Bazhana Avenue in Kyiv with an area of ​​more than 9,000 square meters, which, in particular, housed an ophthalmology clinic.

"This opening was planned from the very beginning, before the full-scale invasion, we planned to open it a year earlier. But even during the war, we were able to open this new hospital with new capabilities, new services, and new surgery rooms. And, of course, it looks incredible," he said.

Linchevsky also reported that in 2023, Dobrobut opened a rehabilitation department in the medical center on the Simi Idzykovskykh Street in the capital and plans to open similar departments in their outpatient departments.

In addition, Dobrobut launched a new service, Sleep Clinic, as well as the Center for Oncological Dermatology, which is already working under the leadership of Professor Maria Kukushkina. There are also three dental clinics operating in the network.

"We like the 2023 outcome, although maybe some of it we wish we had in 2022," he said.

Commenting on the development plans of the Dobrobut medical network for 2024, Linchevsky said: "If we say that we have nothing to improve, we will be deceiving ourselves."

"Every comment, every criticism from patients is already a self-sufficient development plan. We simply decide to implement this plan immediately or a little later. War is full of uncertainties, so we will focus on solving operational issues and laying the foundations to realize our hopes and dreams as soon as possible. We have something to do every day," he stated.

For his part, co-owner of the ADONIS medical group Vitaliy Gyrin said that in 2023, the medical group's clinics provided medical care to more than 250,000 people. In addition, more than 300 military personnel received rehabilitation assistance.

Gyrin also said that ADONIS last year opened two outpatient rehabilitation centers and a rehabilitation center in the left bank part of Kyiv.

"Despite the blackouts and all the problems that we have encountered, in principle we see that the number of our patients is gradually increasing," he said.

At the same time, Gyrin noted that the pre-war years were associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, so comparing the flow of patients with the pre-war period would not be correct. "The numbers are not very correct, but we have about 50% fewer patients," he said.

"The most important achievement is that we were able to maintain the team that we have," Gyrin emphasized.

Commenting on plans for 2024, he said that the most important task for ADONIS is to optimize business processes.

"We will introduce new quality standards and introduce the latest technologies. We also want to focus on developing a culture of regular check-ups, because health is in the hands of the people themselves. They have already understood this, and no one except them is responsible for this," he said.

In turn, director and founder of the medical center Valikhnovski Surgery Institute Rostyslav Valikhnovski said that the clinic specializes in planned and urgent operations. In 2023, it expanded and developed a wide range of services for Ukrainian and foreign patients, and also actively provides necessary surgical care to military personnel.

"We opened a clinic in Ivano-Frankivsk. This is a full-fledged building by modern standards, even newer than in Kyiv. This clinic greatly helps us during the war to provide services to those patients who traveled to the west of Ukraine, but who require highly specialized surgical services," he said.

In addition, Valikhnovski announced the construction of a second building in Kyiv with an area of ​​​​about 2,500 square meters. At the same time, changes were made to this project to expand the area of ​​bomb shelters and increase the bed capacity by 35 units.

In addition, the Dr. Valikhnovski Clinic launched the Valikhnovski Academy educational project, in which 150 surgeons from different countries with many years of practice experience and their own electronic patient record, in which medical data are stored in English, are mentors. This allows, if necessary, to transfer this data to any medical center in the world.

Commenting on plans for 2024, Valikhnovski noted his intention to build another clinic in Kyiv and western Ukraine.

"Now we are looking for a building in the capital of 5,000-6,000 square meters that we can reconstruct, or a site for construction. The second part is a clinic in the western region of the country," he said.

For her part, senior researcher at the Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine Oleksandra Zborovska said that the clinic did not stop operating in 2023. She called the main achievements the preservation of scientific and personnel staff, the continuation of providing medical services and scientific research.

According to Zborovska, the number of patients has completely returned to the pre-war level, but their structure has become more severely ill. "The number of severe cases is constantly increasing," she stated.

Zborovska also reported that the clinic treated about 1,500 victims of war injuries - both military personnel and civilians.

She also recalled the opening of a new seven-story building by the institute with the most modern ophthalmological equipment.

In addition, the institute's employees who treat eye injuries spoke at major international conferences where they presented their unique experience.

"The breakthrough that we were able to realize based on our experience in creating new projects not only in practical but also in scientific areas is significantly important for us," she said.