The Government has approved the boundaries and composition of hospital districts in additional three Oblasts (Regions) of Ukraine - Ivano-Frankivsk, Kirovohrad, and Cherkasy. Thus, the hospital districts have been established in 16 regions as of today.

During the determination of hospital districts, the territorial peculiarities of regions (geographical, lines of communication) were taken into account in order to make high-quality health care accessible to residents to the maximum extent. In particular, 5 hospital districts are established in Ivano-Frankivsk, 5 in Kirovohrad, and 5 in Cherkasy Oblast.

Draft decrees with respect to the remaining 9 regions are now being prepared by Oblast State Administrations. The underlying problem hindering the process of preparation of decrees is the desire to establish small hospital districts (from 80 thousand to 120 thousand residents) motivating it by the difficulty of getting to the place of destination. At the same time, the Ministry of Health believes that the solution of the problem of roads falls under the competence of the Ministry of Infrastructure and that the problem should not affect the strategic planning of the health care infrastructure. The Ministry of Health has already forwarded its proposals regarding the necessity of construction or renovation of 3,600 km of secondary roads to ensure the accessibility of hospitals within the boundaries of hospital districts.

For reference purposes:

Number of hospital districts as of 12 July 2017

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast - 5 districts

Zhytomyr Oblast - 4 districts

Zaporizhia Oblast - 5 districts

Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast - 5 districts

Kyiv Oblast - 4 districts

Kirovohrad Oblast - 5 districts

Luhansk Oblast - 3 districts

Poltava Oblast - 4 districts

Rivne Oblast - 3 districts

Ternopil Oblast - 4 districts

Kherson Oblast - 4 districts

Khmelnytskyi Oblast - 3 districts

Cherkasy Oblast - 5 districts

Chernihiv Oblast - 4 districts

Chernivtsi Oblast - 3 districts

the city of Kyiv - 1 district