Creation of a regional children's consultative and diagnostic center as part of the Chernivtsi Regional Children's Clinical Hospital

Today,  in the Chernivtsi region, consultative and diagnostic assistance to the children's population is distributed in various medical institutions at different levels of providing medical services. A significant share of specialized outpatient care for children of all age groups is provided in the consulting polyclinic of the Chernivtsi Regional Children's Clinical Hospital. Yes, in 2023  more than 60,000 outpatient appointments were held at the polyclinic, including more than 7,000 children displaced from the war zone. However, at the moment, the polyclinic is located in a rented adapted premises, which is territorially located at a considerable distance from the address of the location of the main buildings of the hospital. The specified situation significantly worsens the level and quality of outpatient medical care for children in the region, creates significant difficulties for patients when moving between the polyclinic and inpatient buildings of the hospital, complicates the continuity of comprehensive medical care for children. To create a modern, powerful children's hospital, a perspective development plan for Chernivtsi the hospital district provides for the creation of the Chernivtsi Regional Children's Consultative and Diagnostic Center – of the structural subdivision of the Chernivtsi Regional Children's Clinical Hospital, which consists in the reconstruction and addition of a separate two-story building with a total area of 888 square meters on the territory of the hospital, which is currently not in use. This step will provide a comprehensive comprehensive approach to providing a full range of medical care to children, including children from among internally displaced persons, in one location and will create the prerequisites for the organization of the entire range of diagnostic services on the territory of the hospital.

OKNP "Chernivetska Regional Children's Clinical Hospital" is a supercluster multidisciplinary intensive care hospital that serves more than 200,000 children of the Chernivtsi region in 35 specialties. The hospital provides qualified inpatient and outpatient medical care. The facility also provides outpatient medical care in various areas: consultative, mobile palliative, intensive medical care for neonatal patients and older children. It is the center of organizational and methodical management of the pediatric service of the region, a base for specialization and advanced training of doctors, mid-level medical workers, and an educational base of the Bukovyna State Medical University.

The strategic goal of the project is to create a single children's medical town with a powerful clinical, diagnostic and scientific base within one location for the needs of the entire region, neighboring regions and internally displaced children. The project will provide a new level of quality, availability and range of medical care for the children's population with the development of modern directions of diagnosis and treatment in the conditions of a single supercluster regional children's hospital. Upon successful completion of the project, the entire volume of specialized pediatric medical care will be concentrated in one location and will create conditions for the development of a powerful medical center with a full list of necessary high-tech, high-quality and affordable medical services.

The project envisages the creation of a children's consultation and diagnostic center on the territory of the hospital – of the structural unit of the "Chernivetska Regional Children's Clinical Hospital" (hereinafter   Center), which will include the following components:

• two-variable  consultative reception by all highly specialized specialists of the hospital with a multidisciplinary mobile team for visits to organized children's teams of the region for the purpose of preventive examinations, diagnostic consultations and treatment;
• department of specialized  outpatient minimally invasive surgery (by directions: surgery, traumatology and orthopedics, urology, ENT, ophthalmology, endoscopy, etc.);
• outpatient rehabilitation department for children with diseases of the nervous system and musculoskeletal system;
• x-ray, ultrasound, a full range of functional diagnostics; the only modern laboratory unit with the possibility of 24-hour analysis (today the laboratory is spread over different buildings of the hospital due to a lack of premises);
• department of telemedicine and remote counseling with two-way communication between primary and specialized health care institutions;
• center of orphan diseases;
• department of early intervention with catamnetic support;
• center of mental health and psychological support for families of internally displaced persons;
• modern reception with a wardrobe, a waiting area, and a room for mother and child to stay together;
• a full-fledged modern 24-hour call-center with the possibility of coordinating the intensive care teams of the hospital.

The center will be located at the legal address of the hospital in the new building by  reconstruction with the addition of a building that is not in use.  The total area of the Center will be 2130.6 square meters.

Implementation of this project in the long term will allow:

• To centralize the full complex of medical care for the children population of the region in one location and to create an effective sequence of treatment stages for children of all age groups;
• Introduce new methods of prevention and treatment of children with various pathologies and diseases;
• Develop science-based programs for observation, screening and early diagnosis of diseases in children;
• Significantly reduce child mortality through prevention, early detection and complex treatment;
• Optimize the network of health care facilities that provide specialized outpatient medical care to children in the region;
• Ensure the proximity of patients to the intensive care unit and bring medical care into compliance with the requirements of the National Health Service of Ukraine and the standards of providing medical care to children;
• Implement a system of mutual telemedical consultation;
• Create a single center for orphan diseases in the region;
• Provide psychological support for families of internally displaced persons;
• Ensure the appropriate level of medical service and decent working conditions for the employees of the institution;
• Ensure conditions of unobstructed access for persons with limited mobility and joint stay of parents with children.