How to find doctors for empty clinics: united territorial community did it

The doctor issue in villages is not new. Young professionals are reluctant to accept work in the countryside due to the misconception that working in the province is non-prestigious, inconvenient, and low-paid. For a long time, the outpatient clinic in the Dmytrivka village of the Kirovohrad region also didn't have enough doctors until the village council head went all-in. In January 2020, as part of an online broadcast of the Rechnyk Hromady project, she said that Dmytrivka united territorial community was ready to buy doctors the same way sports clubs buy footballers.

"It turned out that our community has been experiencing a shortage of medical staff for more than a year," Natalia Styrkul, the Head of the Dmytrivka united territorial community, said. "Since one of our doctors, who worked in the community for a long time, died prematurely, health care has become a big headache. Because the only doctor who remained was of respectable age and could no longer serve over 6,000 people. He honestly said he wanted to retire, but then our outpatient clinic risked being left without a doctor at all and becoming a rural medical post."

The territorial community could not afford it. Dmytrivka has a good outpatient clinic. You won't see one in every village. Back in 2017, they made a full repair, updated equipment, purchased all necessary office equipment and furniture. Altogether, Dmytrivka united territorial community allocated over UAH 1.2 million for the medical sector that year. Every year, "medical" costs decreased. Renovated premises provided with all the needed no longer required investment. In fact, running costs for staff salaries remained only. Exactly for that, they didn't have enough funds.