The story of one Ukrainian hospital: 'If hospitals are to be shelled, we must be prepared'

Vulnerable patients take cover in the shelter below Novovolynsk Hospital in Western Ukraine. Picture: WHO/Twitter

“One day last week the air raid sirens went off at five separate times. Our patients are mostly the elderly and some are on crutches and facing acute health needs. They cannot keep travelling down to the bunker."

Oleh Shypelyk, head of Novovolynsk Hospital in Western Ukraine is tired. For the patients his hospital cares for, each day since the Russian invasion began has been more tense and more uncertain than the last. 

The piercing and unwelcome sounds of air sirens have become commonplace, but it is not a noise anyone at the hospital can say they will ever get used to.

Whenever one sounds, Novovolynsk's most vulnerable patients and their carers hurry from the modern overground facility down to a 1950s Soviet-era underground bomb shelter, a rudimentary set-up that can accommodate around 300 people. An as-yet-unnamed baby boy was born in the shelter on Tuesday morning. 

His father had driven his heavily pregnant mother to Novovolynsk a day earlier, a seven-hour journey in normal times that took the couple almost double that. "Meet our newborn defender, 3.5kg, 55cms," the hospital wrote on Facebook following the boy’s birth.

"On the fifth day of the war between Russia and Ukraine, a baby appeared at Novovolynsk hospital for a couple of immigrants from Kyiv.

Life doesn't stop even during the shelling. We wish the baby a peaceful sky. Everything will be Ukraine.

The unnamed baby boy born in Novovolynsk Hospital on Tuesday morning. Picture: @novovolynskhospital/ Facebook

The hospital contains three operating rooms and an emergency department with six teams that have been working round the clock to tend to the ever-growing wounded. Each building in the hospital has its own generator to ensure a continuous supply of electricity.

Russia's defence ministry says its missiles have been aimed at military infrastructure. But there is mounting evidence that this is not the case.  Several universities and other community buildings have been hit across the country. 

On Saturday, cluster munition struck just outside a hospital in Vuhledar in the east. Four people died and 10 were wounded. As the situation outside deteriorates, Novovolynsk is preparing for a range of scenarios should it become a target in Russia’s offensive. 

But it needs more assistance than it is able to receive at the moment. "The main needs are additional generators to ensure electricity supply to the ward with Covid-19 patients — they should stay separate from others — and to the maternity hospital, as women have to give birth regardless of whether there is a war or Covid-19," explains Mr Shypelyk.

“We also need to provide at least two more generators to the shelter, because in case of bombing, we will not be able to transfer all equipment to the shelter. We also need additional surgical equipment. 

If hospitals are to be shelled, we must be prepared for that.

The World Health Organisation (WHO's) representative to Ukraine, Dr Jarno Habitat says health care workers in the country must be protected so that they can continue their lifesaving work.

"Health facilities must be protected and remain functional, safe and accessible to all who need essential medical services." 

Patients in the hospital's rudimentary, Soviet-era underground bomb shelter. Picture: WHO

However, oxygen supplies are dwindling at a national level. Trucks are unable to transport oxygen shipments from plants to hospitals across the country, including in the capital Kyiv. "This is a very dangerous point,” Dr Habicht says.  

Despite the challenges, the WHO says it is actively looking at solutions to increase supplies. It is hoping to source and import oxygen from regional networks, which will then require safe transit, including via a logistics corridor through Poland and into Ukraine. 

The WHO is also working to ensure a supply of oxygen-related medical devices and trauma treatment supplies.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO's Director-General has announced the release of a further $3.5m (€3.15m) from WHO’s Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) to purchase and deliver urgent medical supplies to Ukraine, with more likely to be provided as the conflict escalates. 

"We will continue to deliver care and support people across Ukraine affected by this military offensive," adds Dr Habicht. "Health for all, in all circumstances, lies at the heart of our mission and mandate."

In the meantime, and amid uncertainty at what tomorrow will bring, Novovolynsk Hospital's vital work goes on.