Ukraine's largest children's hospital destroyed by Russia: What's known about Okhmatdyt

Contents

• Russian strike on Okhmatdyt children's hospital
• Okhmatdyt's history
• Other Russian attacks on Okhmatdyt

Russian strike on Okhmatdyt children's hospital

Russia struck several districts of Kyiv this morning. In particular, an office building in Solomianskyi, garages and cars in Holosiivskyi, residential buildings in Dniprovskyi, a private house in Darnytskyi, a fire at an enterprise in Sviatoshynskyi, and a house in Desnianskyi were damaged.

In addition, Russia deliberately struck a children's hospital in the Shevchenkivskyi district. There are reports of destruction on its territory.

Photos of the aftermath were posted on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Telegram channel. According to them, at least one of the premises was destroyed, according to preliminary data, the toxicology department. Windows were smashed in the hospital buildings.

Photo: the aftermath of the destruction at Okhmatdyt (t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official)

The video of the aftermath was published by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.

Rescuers, police, volunteers, and medical personnel are working at the site to clear the rubble. According to the Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko, rescue operations are ongoing.

"The National Guard will also be deployed to clear the rubble very quickly and rescue people who may be under the rubble. Moreover, we have three hours of to rescue anyone alive. We have just pulled out one more person, he is alive, thank God," he says.

So far, two people have been reported dead on the territory of Okhmatdyt. Heavy equipment will be used to manually clear the rubble. It is difficult to say how many people may be under the rubble on the hospital's territory. Sniffer dogs will be used to search for survivors.

According to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, patients were evacuated to other hospitals in Kyiv.

Later, President Zelensky said that Russia cannot help but know where its missiles are flying and must be fully accountable for crimes against children and humanity in general.

"Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv. One of the most important CHILDREN’S hospitals not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe. Okhmatdyt has been saving and restoring the health of thousands of children," he adds.

According to Oleksandr Lysytsia, head of the bone marrow transplantation department, almost all the hospital's buildings, including the new one, were damaged. Health Minister Viktor Liashko added that, in particular, the building where children were on dialysis was damaged.

In a comment to RBC-Ukraine, Klymenko clarified that 15 people were injured directly on the premises of Okhmatdyt. Two doctors cannot be reached.

Read about what Okhmatdyt looks like now in RBC-Ukraine's report from the scene.

Okhmatdyt's history

Okhmatdyt is a multidisciplinary diagnostic and treatment facility in Kyiv. It provides specialized medical care and is the largest children's hospital in Ukraine. It is located on Chornovil Street in the Shevchenkivskyi district.

The history of Okhmatdyt began at the end of the XIX century when a free hospital for laborers and poor people was opened at the expense of philanthropist Mykola Tereshchenko.

After the events of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917, in addition to therapeutic beds, it housed a tuberculosis clinic, a maternity hospital, and a consultation center for mothers and pregnant women.

At that time, health care in Kyiv was organized by the District Health Inspectorate, which included the Okhmatdyt Inspection Department. Its system included children's hospitals, milk kitchens, baby homes, and counseling centers. These medical institutions also trained medical students and nurses.

In 1927, it was proposed to create the Okhmatdyt Institute and place it in a hospital for the poor. The official opening of the Institute of Maternity and Childhood Protection took place in the spring of 1929. Since then, the hospital's development as a major children's medical institution has been closely linked to the Institute's activities. In 1934, the Okhmatdyt Institute was merged with the Institute for Adolescent Health.

In 1940, it was renamed the Research Institute for the Protection of Motherhood and Childhood. The hospital itself was called the Hospital of the Institute of Maternity Protection. At that time, there were physiological and pathological children's departments, obstetrics, gynecology, infectious diseases, and venereology departments for chronic patients.

In 1947, Polyclinic No. 11 was added to the hospital, after which it was renamed the United Hospital of the Okhmatdyt Institute for Maternity and Childhood Protection. In the early 1960s, the Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health was moved to a new building on the territory of Medmistechko, but the name "Ohmatdyt" remained the hospital's legacy.

Since 1998, the Center for Pediatric Onco-Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation has been operating within the structure of the hospital. The structure was finally formed by 2000. Construction of new buildings began in 2011, with the first phase of the renovated complex being commissioned in 2017 and the second phase in 2020.

The surgical clinic consists of the following departments: emergency surgery, purulent surgery and thoracoabdominal department, neonatal surgery, orthopedics and traumatology, reconstructive and plastic surgery, otolaryngology, pediatric gynecology, and pediatric department.

The Department of Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery performs operations to engraft amputated limb segments and restore peripheral nerves and tendons. The Department of Toxicology uses methods of extracorporeal detoxification, chemisorption, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and plasmapheresis, and has developed methods for treating acute and chronic renal failure.

The Medical Genetics Center deals with the diagnosis and treatment of hereditary diseases. The Center for Pediatric Hematology is the leading institution in Ukraine for the diagnosis of leukemia. Bone marrow transplantation is also performed here.

The only neonatal clinics in Ukraine provide examinations, intensive care, and carrying sick newborns and profoundly premature babies weighing 500 grams or more. The therapeutic departments treat children with severe pathologies, immunodeficiency, and allergic diseases.

The Neurology Department conducts a complete clinical and instrumental examination of children with seizures of various genesis and specifies and selects adequate treatment with anticonvulsants of various modes of action in children who have been unsuccessfully treated for a long time. The Department of Endocrinology uses modern methods of research and treatment of diseases of the endocrine system, especially diabetes mellitus.

The Consultative and Diagnostic Polyclinic assists sick children and women in 30 medical specialties: allergy, hematology, dermatology, immunology, cardiorheumatology, psychoneurology, etc.

The Center for Family Planning and Rehabilitation and the Rehabilitation Department operate based on Okhmatdyt.

The diagnostic services are represented by the following units: radiation diagnostics, functional diagnostics, endoscopic examination, and laboratory.

Other Russian attacks on Okhmatdyt

This is not the first time Okhmatdyt has suffered from Russian strikes. For example, on the morning of March 16, 2022, three explosions occurred near the hospital. One of the missiles hit a building near Okhmatdyt, and staff members said that the impacts caused half the hospital to vibrate.

Russian rocket fragments were found on the balcony of the neonatal surgery department. According to doctors, the explosion caused the beds to shake. The blast wave smashed the windows in the pediatric department and damaged the ceiling in the neurology department. Many pieces of debris were found near the hospital, but no one was injured on the territory of Okhmatdyt.

On October 10, 2022, during a massive Russian attack on Kyiv, the territory and buildings of Okhmatdyt were not hit. However, as a result of a Russian strike in the center of the capital, hematologist Oksana Leontieva, who was on her way to work at the hospital, was killed.

Sources: Wikipedia, a Facebook account of Okhmatdyt, Kyiv City Military Administration, Mayor Vitali Klitschko, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.