News

In October 2018, a modern comfortable family room was opened at the National Children's Specialized Hospital OKHMATDYT in Kyiv. The family room is specially designed and equipped to allow sick children to forget they are in a hospital, and to offer both kids and their parents a place to rest from the hustle and bustle happening at all hours in a hospital, and to spend time together.

The 24\7 family room in the Kyiv-based National Specialized Children’s Hospital OKHMATDYT was opened in the neonatal care unit, where about 2000 patients undergo inpatient treatment every year. However, the family room is also open to small patients from the general intensive care unit (more than 600 patients every year), and other visitors. This is a place for parents and relatives of small patients to rest and regroup, just moments away from their children, to drink coffee, to warm up lunch, etc. This is also a comfortable place for mothers to pump breast milk for their babies.

"I am convinced that parents and relatives of small patients should take an active role in the child's treatment. They need to know what medications are prescribed and to understand what procedures their children are undergoing. Parents should not just stay behind closed doors and wait for a miracle, they must be actively engaged in all processes. At the same time, they should not impede medical staff to provide care. There are three family rooms in Ukraine – in Vinnytsia, Lviv, and now in Kyiv. These are small, but very important steps forward towards a family-oriented care. These changes also indicate the success of the ongoing healthcare system transformation in Ukraine", commented Dr. Ulana Suprun, acting Minister of Health of Ukraine.

Small patients from the most remote areas of the country are treated in the Kyiv-based National Specialized Children’s Hospital OKHMATDYT, the availability of a modern family room is therefore of critical importance.

"Our hospital provides care to over 20,000 children from all over Ukraine. People often go straight to the hospital, worried and exhausted. For parents, this room will become a center where they can relieve stress and relax. That will also help doctors, because it's easier to communicate and cooperate with parents who can listen and evaluate the situation attentively and calmly. It took us a month to redesign and renovate the old hospital room of about 60 sq m into a modern comfortable family room," noted Iryna Sadovyak, Head of the National Specialized Children’s Hospital OKHMATDYT.

The funding for the establishment of family rooms in Ukraine was provided by McDonald's, as part of the company’s "Palm of Happiness" charity program.

"I would like to emphasize that such programs can be implemented only with the support from the business sector and the donations of people to charity. So, we are very grateful to all participants of the "Palm of Happiness at McDonald's" program, to all guests of the Family Charity Picnic, which was organized by the Foundation this summer to raise more funds, and to all our partners and charity givers – every donation is important to us. We are planning to open two more family rooms in different hospitals next year, and I believe that together we shall succeed in achieving this goal, and we will see more parents smiling and more small patients surrounded by family warmth in the specialized children's hospitals" underlined Grzegorz Chmielarski, Head of the Supervisory Board of the Ronald McDonald House Charities Ukraine.

The family room in Kyiv-based OKHMATDYT is the third room of this type in Ukraine. This first room was opened in Vinnytsia children's regional hospital and the second room – in Lviv-based OKHMATDYT.

McDonald's leads a series of socially important projects in Ukraine. In 2016, McDonald's became the founding partner of the Ronald McDonald House Charities Ukraine. The mission of the Foundation is to implement programs that directly improve the health and wellbeing of children. Every year, the company organizes charitable events to help thousands of children in difficult life situations.