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By Mary Richards, Church News
Thousands of people in the Kyiv region of Ukraine have access to a new outpatient health clinic from Project Hope, with funding and support from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Project Hope is a global health and humanitarian organization that has been working to rebuild Ukraine’s health system. The new clinic replaced an over-100-year-old building in the village of Zahatlsi.
The building, the village of Zahaltsi and the region suffered significant damage during the hostilities. Project Hope recognized the need for a modern healthcare facility, and with the support of the Church, set to work constructing a new clinic to serve 5,000 people from 13 surrounding villages.
After six months of construction, a ribbon-cutting event was held on August 28, and the facility opened to the public with eight medical professionals on staff.
Project Hope’s program coordinator for reconstruction, Yuriy Rudnichenko, said while designing and building the clinic, they wanted to create a safe place that was barrier-free, comfortable and accessible — both for the residents of the community and for the doctors themselves.
“The clinic has a technical area for clinicians, a reception area for patients, and a laboratory so that patients can get lab work and test results on the spot,” said Rudnichenko. “We are proud that this clinic will bring some support for this community, which suffered so much.”
Volodymyr Denshchykov, the communication director for the Church in Ukraine, attended the ceremony.
“It’s one of the many Church humanitarian projects called to restore damaged or improve existing medical infrastructure in Ukraine to support all people in these difficult times,” he said. “This is possible thanks to the contributions of many good men and women all around the world.”
Mykola Boyko, deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, said cooperation between local governments and international partners and donors is important: “The opening of the clinic in Zahaltsi is another example of coordinated work.”
Project Hope is renovating 12 health and social facilities in Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv oblasts. The organization is also providing humanitarian intervention in the neighboring countries of Moldova and Poland.
The Church’s “Caring for Those in Need” report said the Church expended upwards of $16.8 million in aid in 2022 in response to the Ukrainian and Russian crisis, donating hundreds of tons of food and hundreds of service hours to help those fleeing the conflict.
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