One nurse per village
The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam has had a significant impact on the healthcare system in southern Ukraine, which is also affected by the fighting. Destroyed hospitals, a lack of medical staff, and daily shelling are the conditions under which healthcare workers in the Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts work.
Ministry of Health nurse Olha Varenyk shows a medical facility in the village of Virivka in Kherson oblast. Now just over 200 people are left here. During the Russian military occupation of the village, the facility was destroyed and looted. Initially, the woman was conducting medical check-ups in her home, but recently a modular structure was installed in her yard, allowing her to see patients there. In addition, the MSF mobile clinic regularly visits the village and works with Olha in this structure.
Olha Varenyk admits that working alone is not easy, but she does not want to leave.
“This is my home. I grew up here,” says Varenyk. “I help people in their time of need. These are my people. I love them.”
MSF continues to work near the frontline. Our mobile clinics are staffed by doctors, paramedics, nurses, social workers, and psychologists who provide medical services and medicines to residents of towns and villages in Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine. MSF ambulances also operate here, transporting patients to hospitals. In addition, our teams support frontline hospitals with medical donations.
Fonte original msf.org
