Ukraine has significant potential in its sanatorium and health resort infrastructure, but much of it has been substantially lost. At the same time, the need to restore the health of military personnel and veterans is constantly growing, and rehabilitation for many of them will be a lengthy process that is not limited to hospital treatment. Under these conditions, sanatoriums could become an important part of the national recovery system. People's Deputy and head of the inter-factional parliamentary association "Trade Unions of Ukraine" Andrii Klochko expressed this view in a comment to UNN.
According to him, Ukraine inherited one of the largest networks of sanatorium and health resort facilities in Europe. In 1990, it comprised more than 500 sanatoriums with 150,000 beds, while together with preventive clinics, boarding houses and recreation centers, it provided more than 600,000 places for simultaneous accommodation. However, over the years of independence, a significant part of this infrastructure was lost. According to the MP's estimate, the number of facilities had fallen by at least half even before the full-scale invasion.
This could perhaps be accepted as a natural consequence of a change of eras, were it not for a new challenge. Hundreds of thousands of male and female veterans—some of whom are already returning from the front today, while most will return after victory—need long-term, and often lifelong, restoration of their physical, mental and social health. This is not one-time hospital rehabilitation, but a years-long cycle: treatment, health improvement, support and repeated courses. No hospital system is designed for such a burden, nor should it be. Therefore, my answer is unequivocal: yes, the sanatorium network must become a fully-fledged component of the national system of veteran rehabilitation. Moreover, not only veteran rehabilitation. Today, rescuers, energy workers, railway workers, logistics workers and medical personnel in frontline communities are working under extreme conditions
The MP emphasized that the Federation of Trade Unions has many years of experience managing a network of sanatorium and health resort facilities as a single system, with its own medical standards, a core staff, the logistics of health resort vouchers and an understanding of how a facility operating on natural therapeutic resources functions. Therefore, this experience must now be used to preserve sanatoriums and employ them in the interests of veterans and working people.
What trade unions are doing on the ground today—helping facilities with equipment and humanitarian aid and restoring damaged premises—is important as an example: when the budget cannot keep pace with needs, the trade union covers the gap with its own resources. But the Federation's role should not be reduced to that of a donor. Trade unions are a party to social dialogue and represent the interests of those who are fighting today, have returned from the war or are working in the rear under shelling. Therefore, their place is in developing the rehabilitation programs themselves: what the course includes, who is entitled to it, how to combine the medical component with psychological support and social adaptation, and how to help a veteran return to their profession
Andrii Klochko identified the financing of trade union health improvement programs as a separate problem. According to him, during the period of martial law, the provision requiring employers to transfer funds to primary trade union organizations for workers' health improvement was suspended. These funds had been used for decades to finance health resort vouchers.
They are no longer available—and that is precisely why the health improvement network is operating on the brink today. Restoring this source of funding, at least for the health improvement of veterans and workers in frontline areas, is one of the specific solutions already being discussed in parliament together with the Federation of Trade Unions
What needs to be done to systematically involve sanatoriums in the rehabilitation of veterans
To systematically involve sanatorium and health resort facilities in the rehabilitation of military personnel, not only resources but also clear operating rules are needed. Andrii Klochko outlined five steps which, in his view, should form the basis of the state's approach.
According to him, the first step should be an inventory of the network of sanatoriums. That is, the state and trade unions should assess which facilities are physically accessible today, what their legal status is, what medical resources have been preserved, which natural resources are suitable for use, and what human-resource potential is available.
The next step should be to define the requirements for the sanatorium stage of veterans’ rehabilitation: the duration of programs, mandatory medical and psychological components, staff qualifications, and equipment. Facilities that meet these requirements should undergo the relevant accreditation. In Andriy Klochko’s opinion, this will create a level playing field for state, trade-union, and private sanatoriums.
The third is funding. I am a realist: we cannot avoid public procurement and contracting through the National Health Service, and that is right—funding should follow the veteran, not the sign above the door. But today, the need for rehabilitation is so great that the system requires an order of magnitude more facilities than it currently has. Therefore, the state’s task is not to choose between its own and others, but to create conditions under which every facility capable of meeting the standard can enter the system. This requires long-term contracts so that facilities can plan investments, as well as a separate budget package specifically for the sanatorium stage of rehabilitation, rather than only for the hospital stage
In his opinion, the fourth step should be to regulate the legal status of the facilities. Many facilities with valuable natural resources have been in a state of legal uncertainty for years: ownership disputes, incomplete reorganizations, and assets that are not subject to privatization but have no investor. The lawmaker believes that such situations are better resolved at the negotiating table between the state, trade unions, and communities, rather than in court.
Andriy Klochko named interagency coordination as the final step. He explained that rehabilitation is currently the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, the Ministry of Social Policy, and the National Health Service simultaneously. A sanatorium finds itself between all of them and belongs to none. A single mechanism is needed under which, after hospitalization, a veteran receives a referral to the sanatorium stage just as naturally as they currently receive sick leave.
Without such dialogue—between the Government, Parliament, and the Federation of Trade Unions—not one of these steps will work
We would like to remind you
Earlier, the director of the Odesa-based Kuyalnyk sanatorium, Rahim Babaiev, told UNN in an interview that the facility was facing debts of more than UAH 30 million, outdated infrastructure, and problems with employee payments. Now, according to him, the facility is reducing its arrears, has raised staff salaries by 30%, and has repaid more than UAH 5 million in utility debts.
The director separately highlighted the support of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine. Following the appointment of Serhii Byzov as head of the FPU, interaction with the sanatorium became more active, according to Rahim Babaiev: the Federation is helping provide equipment, deliver humanitarian aid, restore damaged premises, and develop medical services. In particular, the facility received more than 30 computers, 20 laptops, televisions, furniture, and other property. The FPU is also helping organize and finance the replacement of windows damaged by Russian shelling.
Among Kuyalnyk’s priorities is expanding rehabilitation programs for military personnel and veterans. The administration is working on preparing premises, engaging specialists, upgrading equipment, and creating a barrier-free environment. With the support of the FPU, the sanatorium is also exploring opportunities to expand its medical service packages.