Emergency medical care system to be strengthened in Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Chernivtsi regions

The Ministry of Health is working to improve access to emergency medical care in mountainous and remote communities. In particular, Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko held an online meeting with the heads of regional health departments and the heads of emergency medical care and disaster medicine centres in Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Chernivtsi regions. The meeting aimed to strengthen the emergency medical care system in mountainous areas.

“Living in a mountainous or remote hromada should not determine a person’s chances of receiving emergency medical care in a timely manner. We analysed the situation and found that emergency medical care can reach 98–99% of the population within 20 minutes. However, within 10 minutes, the figure ranges from 69% to 92%, depending on the region. Mountainous terrain, the remoteness of settlements, and road and weather conditions limit the ability of the standard emergency medical care model to ensure equal access to care. Therefore, we are developing solutions to improve the situation,” Viktor Liashko emphasised.

Overall, 427 emergency medical care teams operate across the four regions. On average, 20.7% of them are mountain teams, although their share varies by region. Meeting participants discussed possible solutions to strengthen emergency medical care infrastructure and vehicle fleets in mountainous areas.

One of the proposed measures is the installation of 16 modular buildings to accommodate emergency medical care teams closer to remote communities. Another solution is the targeted purchase of 22 high-clearance Type A ambulances for operation in challenging road and weather conditions, as well as 40 Type B and 10 Type C ambulances for providing medical care and transporting patients.

Type A ambulances are used to transport patients who are not in an emergency condition but require medical observation. Type B ambulances are used to provide basic medical care and monitor patients’ condition, while Type C ambulances are advanced life-support vehicles designed for patient transport, advanced monitoring and life support for critically ill patients.

The total projected funding required for these initiatives is up to UAH 576 million. The Ministry is now beginning work with partners to identify funding opportunities to implement the proposed approach.

The Minister also discussed the feasibility of changing the approach to financing emergency medical care – from a capitation-based model to a team-based one. This approach would allow regions to be provided with the necessary resources more evenly.

Implementing these measures will reduce the time it takes for emergency medical care teams to reach patients, increase the share of the population with access to emergency medical care within the target response time, ensure that teams can operate in hard-to-reach areas regardless of the season and weather conditions, improve the conditions at team bases, and reduce regional inequalities in access to emergency medical care.

The Government updated its approach to locating emergency medical care bases in order to reduce teams’ response times to calls.