Psychiatric hospital in Odesa region to change head, criminal case opened - Kiper

After a series of scandals, the Odesa Regional Mental Health Center was inspected by the Department of Health of the Regional State Administration, and its director, Oksana Denysenko, resigned. The documents were handed over to law enforcement agencies. This was announced during a press conference by the head of the Odesa Regional State Administration Oleh Kiper, UNN reports.

Based on the results of the inspection, a joint meeting was held, following which the former head of the hospital submitted a letter of resignation to the head of the regional council by mutual agreement. That is, we are terminating the contract, and now we will decide on another candidate

During the inspection, it was found that the former head of the regional mental health center was not engaged in psychiatric medicine, Kiper informs. The institution was practically re-profiled. They also found unexplained procurement, food irregularities, and poor treatment of the military.

"There were a lot of problems there. We sent the materials to law enforcement agencies. And we have already received information that criminal proceedings have been opened under Article 214 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," Kiper said.

The head of the OVA also said that healthcare in Odesa Oblast is a painful issue for him.

"If we take, for example, Rozdilne and Ovidiopol, where the population is 50-70 thousand, the condition of hospitals is good. They have enough money from the Ministry to provide a full cycle of treatment. They have some savings, which they use to develop.

As for Odesa, I am surprised by some hospitals.

The most notorious "emergency"... the budget of the year for 9 months was spent to travel 100 kilometers to fill ambulances with fuel, to carry canisters instead of people," Kiper says.

In mid-October, the head of the Odesa Regional Emergency Medical Center, Iryna Paramonova, wrote a letter of resignation.

Paramonova wrote a statement about her dismissal after a working meeting of the staff of the Odesa Regional Center for Emergency Medical Care and Disaster Medicine with the head of the Odesa Regional State Administration, Oleh Kiper.

The working meeting was preceded by a comprehensive audit initiated by the SAI, which revealed numerous violations. For example, the audit revealed, among other things, that the Center's management had been rewarding themselves by saving on the salaries of medical workers and drivers. At the same time, the average salary of the Center's director was UAH 150,000 per month.

The inspection also revealed violations in the Center's activities. In particular, there is no basic accounting of medicines, some of which are no longer usable.

In addition, dubious tenders were found. Due to the presence of favorites, emergency teams were forced to refuel with low-quality fuel at gas stations located at a considerable distance from the teams' base.