On the first of December last year, Karolinska University Hospital and Ohmatdyt National Specialized Children’s Hospital in Kyiv signed an agreement for deeper cooperation. The collaboration aims to increase the mutual exchange between the hospitals for the benefit of patients in both countries and to support healthcare in war-torn Ukraine. The agreement has now been specified as Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv and Astrid Lindgren’s Children’s Hospital at Karolinska start clinical cooperation in about 15 areas.
Both hospitals provide specialized and highly specialized care for children and have cutting-edge expertise in many areas. By jointly discussing treatment methods, tackling unusual and difficult patient cases, interpreting X-ray images, and giving each other “second opinions” about patients and treatments via link, email, and phone, the children will receive better care while important knowledge is transferred between the hospitals.
The clinical cooperation covers cardiology, radiology, neonatology, surgery, infectious diseases, endocrinology, pulmonology, cystic fibrosis, intensive care, ECMO, nephrology, neurology, hematology, bone marrow transplantation, transfusion medicine, oncology, and gastroenterology. The responsible contact persons for each specialty are now in place at both hospitals, and the first discussions about patients and treatments via link have been conducted.
– Astrid Lindgren’s Children’s Hospital at Karolinska University Hospital is far ahead in many areas, and I believe that the cooperation within the various pediatric specialties will lead to better care for many children with complex and difficult-to-treat conditions here in Ukraine. The knowledge we gain from our Swedish colleagues is also important as we adapt our hospital to EU standards, says Volodymyr Zhovnir, director of Ohmatdyt National Specialized Children’s Hospital in Kyiv.
– It is very positive that it only took just over two and a half months from the signing of the cooperation agreement until the clinical cooperation for the patients gets underway. The pace and breadth of the cooperation, I think, show the great commitment that exists both at Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital and here at Astrid Lindgren’s Children’s Hospital, says Svante Norgren, theme manager at Astrid Lindgren’s Children’s Hospital at Karolinska University Hospital.
– The model of direct clinical cooperation between different specialties at the hospitals is designed based on the needs identified by Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Ukraine. Our colleagues in Kyiv have a tough task in ensuring high-quality pediatric care when the healthcare system as a whole is heavily burdened by the war. Therefore, we try to design the cooperation so that it provides direct clinical benefit to the patients, concludes Svante Norgren.
An on-site exchange of experience starts in April
The collaboration also includes an exchange of experience and knowledge transfer on-site at the hospitals for two months, so-called “fellowships”. The first four participants, three doctors and one nurse, have now been selected in Kyiv. They will begin their “fellowships” at Astrid Lindgren’s Children’s Hospital on March 24. The first “fellowships” are in neonatology, intensive care, ECMO, and gastroenterology.
Facts:
Ohmatdyt National Specialized Children’s Hospital in Kyiv
Ohmatdyt National Specialized Children’s Hospital in Kyiv s Ukraine’s leading and largest children’s hospital. The hospital, which has about 720 beds, treats approximately 20,000 patients annually and performs about 10,000 surgeries. The hospital is celebrating its 130th anniversary this year.
Astrid Lindgren’s Children’s Hospital at Karolinska University Hospital
Astrid Lindgren’s Children’s Hospital at Karolinska University Hospital is Sweden’s leading children’s hospital. The hospital has 189 beds, treats about 13 700 children in house annually, and performs 10 700 surgeries. Astrid Lindgren’s Children’s Hospital provides specialized and highly specialized care for children and receives patients from all over the country in several areas.
Karolinska University Hospital’s support and cooperation with Ukraine.
Karolinska is the Swedish hospital that has received the most injured and sick patients from Ukraine, 87 people. The patients have received care for, among other things, war injuries and cancer.
In addition to the cooperation with Ohmatdyt Specialized Children’s Hospital in Kyiv, Karolinska has also signed a cooperation agreement with Kryvyi Rih City Clinical Hospital in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine. The hospital has 860 beds. Kryvyi Rih City Clinical Hospital offers emergency care, routine healthcare, and highly specialized care within 34 medical specialties. The cooperation with Kryvyi Rih City Clinical Hospital has also begun to take concrete shape, especially in the area of trauma care.
The cooperation agreements between the two Ukrainian hospitals and Karolinska University Hospital could be signed after the health ministers of Ukraine and Sweden on December 1, 2023, signed a national Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on increased cooperation in the healthcare sector.
Karolinska’s cooperation and support for the Ukrainian hospitals are part of the Stockholm Region’s collective aid to Ukraine.
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