Mykola Tomenko: A Secret Cutdown in the Number of Medical Care Institutions is going on in Ukraine
In the interview before the Conciliative Council, Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, claimed that a secret cutdown in the number of medical care institutions is going on in Ukraine.
M.Tomenko addressed the Prime Minister with a request to report on the legislative grounds for closing hospitals, maternity homes and other medical care institutions in different regions of Ukraine. According to the Deputy Chairman, the authorities bring forward such arguments as the lack of governmental financial support, cut-down in the expenditures for the public health sector in the year 2011, etc. "However, these arguments seem to be used in other ways. Some institutions are merged or downsized, some local authorities have conflicts with the hospital chief executives or labour collectives, somewhere downsizing or merging is a pretext for privatizing the premises in the central part of the town," the politician stated. As examples, he mentioned the maternity home No. 2 in Cherkasy, a hospital in Annenka township of Luhansk region, the Central District Hospital of Tatarbunary district of Odesa region, and Brody District Hospital in Lviv region.
The Deputy Chairman stressed that the Government shall publicly present the program of reforms of medical infrastructure, as not a single medical care institution can be liquated without public discussions and consent of the local community.