This hospital in Ukraine transformed into a trauma centre. It's proving Ukrainians are 'unbroken'
Mouhamad Rachini | CBC Radio | Posted: February 24, 2023 2:30 PM | Last Updated: March 16, 2023
'This word 'unbroken' is to mean that you're Ukrainian at this moment,' says Dr. Hnat Herych
For years, the Multidisciplinary Clinical Hospital of Emergency and Intensive Care in Lviv, Ukraine, was a civilian hospital with little experience treating war injuries.
But after Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24, 2022, the hospital — and the medical professionals within it — were forced to adapt.
"After Russia attacked the Ukrainian territory, we have thousands of victims and we understood that these patients need some specific surgical treatment," said Dr. Hnat Herych, chief of the hospital's surgery department.
Over the last year, Herych and his colleagues have transformed the hospital to better help people injured in the war.
They've also launched a project called the Unbroken National Rehabilitation Center, which offers a full range of medical support, from emergency and reconstructive surgery, to prosthetics and psychological support.
The project is implemented in part by Lviv's city council, with the support of Ukraine's Ministry of Health.
"Before the war in Ukraine, we don't have such institutes as the rehabilitation centres, because Ukraine never took part in huge war conflict and never attacked no one's country," Herych said.
"Now, it is the medical hub of all of Ukraine. And we want to build this rehabilitation centre to operate … and give the patient prosthetics and give the patient mental health help in one place, and adapt this patient after this very, very serious war injury to normal life."
The centre's location within Ukraine is important for both its patients and doctors, Herych said.
"We will defeat this evil, and we will, unfortunately, have thousands of patients, of our people, that have … injuries as a result of this aggression. And these injuries need to be treated," he said.
"We need to treat it in Ukraine because we want that these people, after the war, after this horror … [to] have a possibility to adapt and to come back [to] normal life."
It's very incredible that in the world, a lot of people that want to help, that understand in what situation we are now and for what principles we are fighting for.-Dr. Hnat Herych
An 'unbroken' Ukraine
Herych says the Unbroken hospital has already treated more than 6,000 patients since the project started — all with their own stories to share.
"We see the small children, we see the adults, we see the old patients, we see a lot of militaries," he said.
One of them is a man named Illia, a Ukrainian soldier who suffered severe burns and a fractured leg after a mine blew up a tank he was riding in on Sept. 2, near the southern city of Kherson.
Illia was able to escape the tank, Herych said. He ultimately ended up in Lviv, which is located about 1,000 kilometres away, near the border with Poland, for treatment at the Unbroken Center. There, his right leg was amputated.
"He say that everything is incredible, because he understand that in close future, he will already have a possibility to use the prosthetics and start walking," Herych said, translating for Illia.
Still, it's difficult for Herych to see thousands of fellow Ukrainians coming into the facility's operating rooms with severe, gruesome injuries.
"But, you know, we need to be professional — and we understand and I understand that we cannot concentrate on that," he said. "We need to do our job and help our country, our army and our nation to fight for our independence and our freedom."
Illia's dreams of returning to a normal life might be realized thanks to the treatment he received. He'd even like to join the Ukrainian Paralympic team as a runner one day.
This word 'unbroken' is to mean that you're Ukrainian at this moment.
Herych says it's incredible what the hospital's work has done for the lives of Illia and other patients who were on the brink of death.
"It's really incredible things, when you see the patient on the operation table with critical bleeding, or when you have the symptoms of clinical death … and after time, you see how this patient [is] working or start to live normal life, or even wants to [go] back to the army to protect Ukraine," he said.
It's the unbroken spirits of Illia and others that gave the hospital its name, according to Herych.
"This word 'unbroken' is to describe how [we are] staying and standing our nation right now," he said. "This word 'unbroken' is to mean that you're Ukrainian at this moment."
'Good always wins'
A year after the start of the war, Herych and his co-workers are still working hard, trying to keep their fellow Ukrainians — and their hopes of returning to a normal life — alive.
"It's really not so easy, because we don't remember when we have a free time," he said. "But we don't think about this.
"We need to work and help our nation, our soldiers, to defeat the country that wants to destroy our democracy and our men, [that's] occupied our territory."
Doctors and operators from as far as the United States are now assisting their work. Herych recounts one story of an American he had never met, who called and asked if he could travel to Lviv and work with the project.
"Now, he is in our department and helping us [for] more than one month," he said.
"It's very incredible that in the world, a lot of people that want to help, that understand in what situation we are now and for what principles we are fighting for."
With continued support from their allies and the resolute spirit of his country's men and women, Herych says he is convinced Ukraine will eventually emerge victorious.
"The good always win and the evil always lose," he said.