Maryna Denysiuk, Deputy Minister at Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, shared on LinkedIn:
“ReHealth panel moderation continuation
When Equipment Arrives, but the Facility Isn’t Ready
Another critical operational reality was brought forward through the field experience of UNOPS, presented by Olena Klymenko: the so-called clinical-engineering gap.
Equipment might be procured or fully funded, but the site is unready to host it:
Undersized power grids, absent engineering systems, insufficient structural load – bearing capacity, or original blueprints lost to shelling.
As a result, high – value medical hardware risks idling in warehouses while the facility loses precious time and operational capacity.
Hospital modernization is never just an equipment purchase. It is an integrated capital project where clinical strategy, civil engineering, MEP systems, procurement, and financing must move in lockstep.
Three Prerequisites for a Successful Project
- Synthesizing the panel, I identified three key factors that dictate whether a hospital’s need matures into a bankable investment project:
- Strategy Over a ‘Wishlist’ Communities and hospital leadership need a realistic 3 – 5 year development plan: target clinical services, required diagnostic surgical equipment, matching engineering specs, and – above all – measurable patient outcomes.
- Proactivity Over Single-Donor Dependency
There is no single button marked ‘Fund this hospital.’ Teams must prepare bankable feasibility studies, build stress-tested financial models, map out the viability gap, and engage multiple financing sources simultaneously. - An Empowered Project Leader
Every complex capital project requires a designated leader accountable for driving it from design to commissioning – someone who orchestrates clinical, engineering, financial, and legal tracks while eliminating daily administrative friction. And that leader must be backed by a dedicated Project Management Unit (PMU).
Time is a Capital Asset
The discussion referenced a line from Kharkiv street artist Hamlet Zinkivsky:
‘War steals much time and opportunity. War offers much time and opportunity.
For reconstruction, this is an exact metaphor.We cannot afford to spend years waiting for an ‘ideal’ single funding source. We must learn to structure hybrid financing, allocate risk intelligently, and make decisions accounting for the full time – value of implementation.
Grants, commercial debt, private equity, state subsidies, and IFI funds are not mutually exclusive alternatives. A resilient project is one anchored by a thoughtfully assembled financial architecture.
Our mandate today is clear: help Ukrainian hospitals transition from lists of urgent needs into thoroughly prepared, financially viable, and executable investment projects.
My sincere thanks to all panellists for an honest, professional, and practical discussion.”
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