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The young boy above is being treated at the Kyiv Institute of Neurosurgery. It is the best in Ukraine, but its technology and capabilities lag far behind neurosurgery hospitals in more developed countries. Yaroslav Debelyi It is scary to live in a nation in which the lives of average people are not protected from calamities

When I was a child, I dreamed of becoming a doctor or even a surgeon. I would save people’s lives day and night and make someone else’s life and comfort my priority. To me, the profession is one of the most noble and humble ones, or at least this is the way it should be, but …

The other week my very good friend had the unfortunate circumstance to experience the “hospitality” of Ukrainian medical care. Not that I (as the one who accompanied her) was surprised with what I found. Still, I was horrified and stunned. To briefly sum it up: You either have to have a very strong nervous system and be very bold and strong, or you should have people you trust next to you who are willing to bravely fight for your life. Otherwise, you may never have a chance to enjoy life to the fullest again.

My friend was brought by an ambulance to one of the central hospitals of Kyiv on a Wednesday evening. It was an emergency. She was in desperate need of help. However, the first minutes spent in the hospital made me realize that no one there was in a hurry to save her life.

The shabby and dirty hospital was empty, except for a nurse who, a few minutes later, was joined by my friend’s “potential” doctor. This female doctor was supposed to save my friend, although the word “save,” evidently, wasn’t a part of her vocabulary. Nothing there reminded me of numerous touching episodes from the American movies “911” or “Dr. House,” where the whole army of doctors is fussing over a patient. Instead, we found ourselves in a vicious circle of indifference, irresponsibility, anger and actual danger.

The first question the doctor asked was whether my friend agrees to stay in this hospital for at least 3-5 days. When I suggested to the doctor that it would make more sense for her to first figure out what is wrong with my friend, she went ballistic. The “good” doctor screamed that the hospital does not provide consultations, since her salary is too small for this.

Evidently, at that moment, she decided to blame us and hold us accountable for her low salary, disgusting hospital rooms, lack of doctors and God knows what other miseries she has in her life.

We “kidnapped” my friend a few hours later to bring to another hospital. This created a scandal. It turned out that “her” doctor in the first hospital was strongly against my friend leaving since she had spent time on her and, again, her salary was too small for this. It is worth mentioning here that my friend does have medical insurance, and not a cheap policy. It is scary to imagine what happens to people who don’t have such coverage.

The second hospital pleasantly surprised us. This is what happens when you have low expectations. The hospital itself looked even worse and the chaos there was outstanding. It was a challenge to actually find a doctor.

However, once we did, the doctors were kind and caring, although I am sure they had no better salaries or working conditions than in the first one. The next day, one of the doctors casually mentioned to my friend how frustrated they all were about the words of Iryna Kilchitska, deputy mayor of Kyiv, who said doctors do not deserve good salaries since they all are corrupt. In the same TV reportage, they showed a grand collection of cars belonging to the Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky. How should a doctor with 30 years experience and an Hr 950 monthly salary a month feel seeing this?

Why are doctors and patients hostages to indifference? Who is in a worse position, doctors who are paid kopecks and lose control of their emotions? Or patients stuck in hot stuffy rooms with up to five other patients, all sharing one awful bathroom with everyone else on the floor, sleeping on beds with linen the size of a towel as their lives hang in the balance?

I know Ukrainians are deeply dissatisfied with their medical care. How scary it is to live and work in the country you love while realizing you and your loved ones are unprotected against medical or health calamities.

Government officials are very generous on promises and passionate about their plans. They want to provide doctors with European salaries. They want to develop a smart system of medical insurance and make it accessible to everyone. They want to build modern hospitals and so on.

But no one is rushing to fulfill these good intentions. The bitter irony is that when someone from the ranks of the “strong” needs medical help, all is taken care of, either in private hospitals at a rate of $5,000 a week, or abroad, where the patient is pampered.

In reality, the tiny salaries harden the rudeness and apathy of doctors. And they stoke fear, fear among Ukrainians that tomorrow any of us could pay for someone else’s carelessness and indifference with our own lives.

The Bible instructs us to “always repay what we owe to others and be willing to help our neighbors. We are not to withhold good when it is in our power to do so.”

Maybe it works that way in heaven. But today’s Ukraine is far from this place.


Nataliya Toropova is a political analyst and civic activist living in Kyiv. She can be reached at natalytoropova@gmail.com.