Modern shelters have been opened at the Chernihiv Regional Children’s Hospital and the Chernihiv Regional Psychoneurological Hospital. The facilities were renovated and equipped with the support of Expertise France in Ukraine under the APPUI Santé project, funded by the Crisis and Support Centre of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (CDCS) at the request of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.
The renovated premises were inspected by Ukraine’s Minister of Health Viktor Liashko, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Ukraine Gaël Veyssière, the head of the Health Program at Expertise France Vincent Vial, as well as regional authorities and representatives of medical institutions.
“The creation of modern shelters in healthcare facilities allows us to ensure the continuity of medical care even during air raid alerts and other security threats, which is especially important for regions that are constantly subjected to Russian attacks. In cooperation with international partners, we continue to expand and modernize the network of protected medical spaces so that patients can receive necessary care and doctors can work in safe conditions. I am grateful to France and Expertise France for their support. Today in Chernihiv we are opening two modern shelters in the regional children’s and psychoneurological hospitals. This is an important step toward strengthening the safety of the region’s medical infrastructure and increasing the resilience of the healthcare system as a whole,” said Minister of Health Viktor Liashko.
In the Chernihiv Regional Children’s Hospital, the project included a full renovation of an operating room for emergency surgical care and an intensive care unit located in a 730 m² shelter. The facility was also equipped with modern medical devices, including anesthesia machines, ventilators, patient monitoring systems, diagnostic equipment, surgical instruments, sterilization systems, and other tools necessary for fully functioning intensive care in an underground setting.
In the Chernihiv Regional Psychoneurological Hospital, a modern 720 m² underground shelter was built to ensure the safety of patients and medical staff and to maintain uninterrupted care under martial law. In addition, the hospital’s water supply system was reconstructed, including drilling a new well, installing a water treatment station, and overhauling two water towers.
Another regional project is expected to be completed this summer — the reconstruction of the surgical and intensive care departments of the Ichnia City Hospital. Additionally, construction of a surgical building at the Nizhyn hospital has begun this year under the Ukrainian–French partnership.
Minister Liashko also emphasized that cooperation between Ukraine and France goes beyond infrastructure projects. Horizontal cooperation between medical institutions is also developing within the international medical partnership initiative launched under the patronage of Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska. More than 100 memoranda have already been signed within the initiative, including over 26 with French medical institutions, implemented with the support of Expertise France.
“International medical partnership is about direct doctor-to-doctor contact. When a doctor in Kyiv or Chernihiv can call a colleague in Paris or Berlin and jointly find the best solution for a specific patient. When our doctors train at leading clinics around the world. When they share unique experience gained in the most difficult conditions of war. Each of the institutions we are visiting today has partnerships with French university hospitals. The Chernihiv Regional Children’s Hospital cooperates with the University Hospital of Lille, and the Chernihiv Psychoneurological Hospital cooperates with the University Hospital of Nîmes. This autumn, Ukrainian specialists will continue professional internships in France. This is how we build a long-term result that will benefit Ukrainian patients even after reconstruction projects are completed,” said Viktor Liashko.
It is noted that in June 2024, the governments of Ukraine and France signed a €200 million intergovernmental grant agreement, part of which is allocated to healthcare and critical infrastructure. Seven agreements in the healthcare sector have been concluded for a total of €51 million. In addition, in 2024 the Ukrainian parliament ratified framework agreements between Ukraine and France on cooperation in rebuilding and modernizing hospitals and cancer diagnostics.
