Getting medical attention can be tough in Kyiv for those who don’t speak Ukrainian or Russian. Thankfully, some clinics make sure they hire English-speaking doctors or provide translation services at a cost.
American Medical Centers
Established in 1996
1 Berdichyvska St.
490-7600
American Medical Centers is the only private hospital where the focus has been put to provide medical services to foreigners. According to Alex Sokol, AMC’s managing director, 30-35 percent of the clinic’s patients are foreigners. All 22 doctors are English-speaking, Sokol said. Some have had internships abroad and at least one, a family doctor, is a native English speaker. Some doctors also speak Spanish, German, Arabic and Italian. The clinic’s main focus is on family practice, pediatrics and gynecology. A price list of services is available on demand.
Boris
Established in 1993
55A Velyka Vasylkivska St.
12A Bazhana Av.
238-0000
www.boris.kiev.ua (no English version)
Boris has two clinics in Kyiv and provides services in English but doesn’t have native English speakers among the medical staff. According to Olesya Holovko, spokeswoman for Boris, each shift of the hospital’s call center has at least two English speakers on staff ready to assist foreigners. “If there is an emergency, we will provide a translator immediately,” Holovko says. If a patient wants to communicate directly with the doctor, they can ask for an appointment with an English-speaking one. Only 10-15 percent of Boris’ staff speak fluent English, enough so that each specialization has at least one English-speaking doctor. Some doctors also speak German or French. According to Anastasia Polishchuk, an insurance manager of Boris, foreigners and expats most often come to Boris with the flu or for treatment of abdominal pain. Prices are available online at: www.boris.kiev.ua/ru/price (in Ukrainian only).
Medicom
Established in 1992
6D Heroyev Stalingrada Av.
8 Kondratiuka St.
503-0000
According to Oleksander Skuridin, director of Medicom, an average of five foreigners seek care everyday at one of the two Medicom clinics. English-speaking operators are available at the call center. Also all senior administrators and some of the doctors are English speaking. If a patient needs to see a specific doctor who doesn’t speak English, one of the administrators will assist. “I think it is important to understand that good medical services are a higher priority than the language issue. It is better to consult a good doctor using a translator than to give preference to an English-speaking doctor who would not be skilled enough.” Medicom offers most medical services, including surgery, fulltime in-patient treatment and emergency medical care. Prices are available online at www.medikom.ua/price/ (in Russian only).
Ilaya
Established in 2010
9 Ivana Kramskoho
284-0000
Receptionists and call center operators speak English, so getting an appointment won’t be a problem. However, at the clinic, English-speaking patients are accompanied by one of the managers, a person majoring in medical English, who serves as a translator. The manager accompanies the patient at all times.
Some of the doctors, according to Ilaya’s director Alexey Shershnev, are also English speaking, but the clinic doesn’t insist that they speak English to patients. The clinic wants to the doctors to focus on medicine and leave the translation to a manager. Ilaya’s main focus is on reproductive medicine. Most foreigners who come to the clinics, Shershnev said, are those who came to Ukraine specifically to get reproductive services, which can be much cheaper in Ukraine than in their home countries. Prices are available online at www.ilaya.ua/servis/price/ (Russian only).
