Project: RPI Aids War-Damaged & Affected Ukrainian Hospitals
Implemented by Refugee Protection International with Ukrainian Medical Staff and Volunteers
Project Summary: Refugee Protection International equips war-damaged and other partner Ukrainian hospitals with the medical equipment, supplies, and medicines needed to provide lifesaving care to war-affected children. In southeast Ukraine, our main partners are the Regional Children’s Clinical Hospitals in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia city. Since February 24th, 2022, these hospitals have treated war-wounded children from Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Mariupol, and other areas of intense fighting.
On January 26, 2023 RPI staff delivered purchased surgical and neonatal equipment to the Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital in Kherson that was struck by Russian shelling on January 1st, destroying 2 intensive care units and heavily damaging its neonatal ward. RPI’s delivery with the accompaniment of community partner Orlivka Logistic Center for Humanitarian Aid was filmed by the Kherson Regional State Administration. The delivery was done the same day that Russia launched 55 missiles and 24 drones at Ukraine, all while Russian artillery was firing from across the river. RPI is actively fundraising for additional supplies for this hospital and for Kherson’s City Perinatal Center Level II attacked on January 24th, that RPI staff visited just 2 days later.
Our partner hospital in Zaporizhzhia was featured by BBC for its critical work, and received $40,000 in new wound vacuum therapy equipment from RPI in April 2022. In May 2022, RPI’s Jennifer Hill visited the hospital and saw firsthand the devastating impact of delayed civilian evacuations on children’s access to medical care. Unable to flee newly occupied territories of Ukraine until their situation is critical, patients often arrive in Zaporizhzhia in need of intensive care.
RPI also supports partnering children’s hospitals in Chernivtsi city, western Ukraine. 1 of 3 nationally designated locations for the provision of medical care to internally displaced children, Chernivtsi assists a large number of internally displaced children and pregnant women arriving from war-stricken parts of the country. RPI has procured and delivered medical equipment and supplies to the Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital in Chernivtsi, which specializes in the treatment of complex pediatric cases, including newborns. RPI has also assisted other pediatric hospitals, and is planning to support the city’s Regional Perinatal Center, which provides much needed perinatal and maternity support to displaced women. RPI has visited all partner hospitals.
To date, RPI has purchased and delivered nearly $100,000 worth of medical equipment, medicines and supplies to its partner hospitals. With your support, we will continue to procure medical items essential for the treatment of war injuries and the expansion of capacity in neonatal intensive care units, maternity and pediatric wards, and basements, where patients and staff spend hours during air raid sirens. With other Ukrainian medical partners – Dobrobut Medical Center & BioTexCom – we have helped coordinate and fully support the medical evacuation of 53 surrogate babies from Kyiv and Kropyvnyski to Chernivtsi on the Romanian border. Please see our separate project on the partner-run evacuations we have launched and equipped for thousands of Ukrainian civilians from frontline areas in southern and southeastern Ukraine.
