Doctors Reported A Variety Of Problems They Regularly Encounter

On an ACHF Volunteers trip to Ukraine in June of 2018, doctors in Kyiv reported issues faced while they work:

Need for Equipment Upgrades: "We're only as good as the equipment we have to work with," a doctor said to the volunteer on the recent ACHF visit to Kyiv, Ukraine. "We come to work every day looking at these machines that babies and adults are using. We know they are outdated machines. We just come to work and pray that the machines running 24/7 don't die on our patients." 

Overcrowding: Ukraine's hospitals are trying to keep up with the demand in the number of heart patients they care for. Rarely is there a free bed. Often times in the ICU, doctors reported that beds were full of those recovering from heart surgery and in critical condition. When an ambulance comes, there is no place to put the person arriving in desperate need of care.

Low Salaries: Ukrainian doctor's are paid poor wages, despite the years of dedication to schooling that it takes to become a physician. This leads to "brain drain," as many Ukrainian doctors leave for better working conditions and pay in other parts of Europe. 

Education: A desire to establish a Ukrainian School of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery is a vision the physicians in the heart hospitals of Kyiv, Ukraine possess for the future.