A total of 244 hospitals have already concluded contracts with the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU) for medical assistance in rehabilitation.

Tetiana Lomakina, the advisor and envoy of the President of Ukraine on accessibility, said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine that the criteria for concluding a contract in rehabilitation assistance are, in particular, the availability of a sufficient number of rehabilitation specialists with experience, knowledge and skills, as well as the availability of evidence equipment for work.

"The hospitals which experience can be inherited are among them. These are, for example, the department of acute rehabilitation in Okhmatdyt, and the medical institutions of Rivne region, which began the transition to evidence-based rehabilitation on their own back in 2015-2016. And today, they not only provide assistance but can share their experience with other hospitals," she said.

Lomakina said that in hospitals, patients should receive rehabilitation in the first 24-72 hours.

"Large clinics should be the first to organize rehabilitation so that a person does not wait to receive rehabilitation assistance in other institutions, wasting precious time. However, this does not mean that only such clinics can become part of a network of rehabilitation institutions. Even small rural outpatient clinics can organize long-term rehabilitation services and provide these services on an outpatient basis," she said.