Dear colleagues,friends,
As we are approaching the final stage of our ambitious Project “International Family Medicine Clinic in Uzhhorod” I want to thank you for your assistance in making the craziest dream true. The following is our Post Release 5 summarising our last 6 months activities and our future plans
Since the beginning of Russia’s full scale aggression against Ukraine, when the governments of different levels were not sure what to do and where they will be the next day of the war , when Kiev was on the edge of the capture, when millions of people from Eastern and Southern Ukraine fled through the borders ( including Ukrainian-Slovakia border) trying to save themselves in other countries of the world, it was our personal initiative with my wife, also a doctor, to find our right place in this chaos. It was impossible for us to do nothing. We started with selecting and distributing the medications that fled to Ukraine as humanitarian aid first from the local municipality and then from the organizations and people all over the world. Soon we were joined by a group of our residents, students ( I am a University Assistant Professor) and family doctors-refugees from the ruined parts of Ukraine. Working in shifts during this period we could provide day and night medical service 24/7 on the border checkpoints, railway stations and shelters for refugees in Uzhhorod and Chop. Soon we organized the first location of the Volunteer medical center in “Owl’s Nest” (the municipal center of humanitarian aid distribution and refugees’ registration), then we moved to the small office in Rehabilitation Medical Clinic for Children and later to a bigger and more comfortable location on Pidgirna street (renting this office was possible due to JCLDS church support). The medical service was also provided by residents in shelters where some of the refugees were accommodated . Thanks to my numerous international connections enumerated in the attached in the List of donors , I arranged humanitarian supplies of scarce medicines and materials from abroad to Ukraine. When the shelves of the local pharmacies were practically empty, dozens of my international colleagues as volunteers like Peter Vayer (Hungary), Will Clinkering (France), Jachym Bednar (Czech Republic), Martin Rossohach (Slovakia), Ramptons’ and Killens’ family (USA) and many other international friends carried medications and instruments by their cars to Uzhhorod or to the Hungarian or Slovakian borders. Thanks to invaluable help from the director of Eastern European mission Peter Gabor we had got the possibility to collect donations on his Hungarian account that helped us much to avoid extra expenditures for bank transactions. He also organized transportation of humanitarian aid (medical and non-medical) that we distributed in Uzhgorod and all over Ukraine. We worked with the Charity Foundation “From Heart to Heart” and had their support when we were lacking some medications that time.
Now after six months of the war we understand the urgent need for health services to the IDPs, most of whom are elderly, women, and children who have lost homes and income, and sometimes everything.
Thanks to my former professional connections and popularity in the international medical circles we managed to get the necessary financial support from numerous medical organizations (WONCA Europe, EURACT, EGPRN, EUROPREV) and individual donors around the world to implement a project of creating International Family Medicine Clinic for refugees in Uzhhorod. It is difficult to believe now, but it took us a little bit more than three months to complete this ambitious Project. 0n 23 of September 2022 we’ll have a Grand opening of the Clinic and you are welcome to attend it !. This is one of a few peaceful projects in Ukraine being implemented during the war in such a short period of time. In addition, this Clinic is very special for Uzhhorod because it is dedicated to provide medical service based on family medicine to the refugees . Now due to the refugees the population of Uzhhorod has increased from 100 000 to 160 000 but neither of the local clinics is ready to provide them free medical service . Besides, the specificity of the clinic is that it combines medical care with practical medical education for the students and residents aimed at family medicine. At last but that is not the least, the Clinic is to provide opportunities for the employment of volunteers: displaced doctors and nurses from ruined or occupied areas. Being built by means of international donations, we believe that the Clinic will also become popular among the invited international specialists who may come to work temporarily in our Clinic or to provide training and lectures.
Now when the construction of the Clinic is completed we do not need any more funds for capital expenditures. The funds accumulated from American, European donors, Church of Jesus Christ Latter Saint Days in Ukraine, individual donors from all over the world, will be also enough for fulfilling all necessary legalization formalities ( license, certificate, etc.). We are lucky to have a great set of medical equipment due to the previous support from the international donors. We will provide ultrasound, EKG, pickfloumetry, audiometry, densitometry etc. using our machines.
Nevertheless, our Clinic is to have two stages in its development: no-profit and a for- profit one when we’ll be fully independent and sustainable due the assigned patients ( paid by the government) who will come after our family doctors into the clinic. Unfortunately, according to Ukrainian regulations during the war time within the coming 6 months the assigned patient’s law will not be financed and during this time we won’t be able to function as a profit sustainable organization. At the same time I clearly understand that the Clinic will not be able to survive only on the volunteer basis. That’s why we are going to provide extra services like lab investigations,etc. and to invite experienced medical specialists of different types who will spend part of their time in the clinic working as volunteers and mentors . It means that we’ll have to survive during the coming 6 months.
As long as we don’t have the government support as capitation fees for our refugee patients during the coming 6 months we will need to accommodate extra funds for the staff payment. To make our clinic attractive to the staff we‘ll have to keep paying our volunteers the usual stipend (according to our previous agreement it was over $3.00 per volunteer/hour). We have a team of 5-7 doctors (experienced and young), receptionists, a pharmacist, a cleaner who worked in one small office on duties and had shifts according to the schedule. Approximate amount of stipends for their service may be about $ 1000.00 a month.
With a Clinic start we can expect that the running costs of the Clinic (4-5 rooms and reception, Internet, electricity and water supply, etc. may amount approximately over $ 500.00 a month.
Clinic will have a laboratory where we will need as many rapid paid tests as possible (S.pyogenes, FOBT, Urinalysis, H.pylori stool test, Influenza and COVID tests). Besides, we will use my apparatus for Hb, cholesterol, glucose and other tests measurement. I expect to run the lab will need $ 500.00-1000.00 monthly minimum.
Summing it up, the total financial support we need to run the Clinic during the coming 6 months may be about $ 4000.00 per month, thus, any form of your financial help would be much appreciated.
If possible, please arrange the donations to go to a registered NGO for tax benefits for you as a donor to the address below.
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Welcome to the International Family Medicine Clinic for refugees in Uzhhorod!
Best regards,
Pavlo
