The cross-border project “Children are the Future,” jointly implemented by the University Children’s Clinical Hospital in Białystok and the Regional Children’s Hospital of the Transcarpathian Voivodeship in Mukachevo, Ukraine, has been completed. The total value of the project was €2.5 million.
The hospital in Mukachevo is located in western Ukraine, near the border with Slovakia, almost 800 km from Białystok. The University Children’s Clinical Hospital (UDSK) is slightly larger, but the two hospitals are similar in terms of their operations, patient numbers, and the challenges they face on a daily basis. Both facilities also provide care to refugees and people affected by the war in Ukraine.
These similarities quickly led to a partnership and the launch of the joint project, “Children are the Future – Investments to Improve the Quality and Accessibility of Medical Services in Children’s Hospitals in Białystok and Mukachevo”, implemented under the Interreg NEXT Poland–Ukraine 2021–2027 programme.
The project was divided into three components. The largest involved the joint purchase of medical equipment. The second focused on strengthening the cybersecurity of the participating facilities, while the third involved joint training, networking, and professional collaboration.
Our children’s hospital is one of the largest in Poland and the largest multispecialty children’s hospital in the northeastern region. We provide a full range of services, with the exception of advanced cardiac surgery and neurosurgery, so equipping our hospital is crucial. New equipment entering the market should be available to our patients.
Prof. Anna Wasilewska, director of the University of Medical Sciences and Humanities.
She also emphasized the importance of joint training and meetings between doctors: “On the Ukrainian side, surgery and orthopedics are highly developed due to the armed conflict. We, on the other hand, have greater experience in radiology and cardiology, so this exchange of experience was very important.”
The Ukrainian hospital highlighted the purchase of a new CT scanner, the launch of what it describes as the only gait-analysis facility in Ukraine, used to support surgical treatment of joint conditions, as well as the introduction of systems designed to improve the facility’s IT security.
The project’s planned indicators assumed that 28,000 patients would receive care and diagnostic services at the two hospitals. However, we do not want this project to be the end of our shared history. We want the relationships and friendships we have built to become the beginning of lasting, long-term cooperation. Therefore, I would like to sincerely thank the hospital administration in Białystok and the Interreg programme for this incredible opportunity to develop both facilities.
Mikhail Rad, Deputy Director of the Regional Children’s Hospital in Mukachevo.
