The Ministry of Health of Ukraine has decided to cancel the previous tender for the reconstruction of the Okhmatdyt hospital and hold a new one through the Prozorro system. This was announced by Health Minister Viktor Lyashko during a briefing, reports Komersant ukrainskyi
According to the minister, a special supervisory and audit board will be set up to hold the new tender. It will include representatives of the Ministry of Health, the administration of Okhmatdyt and the six largest benefactors who have made contributions to the hospital’s restoration.
Lyashko stressed the importance of holding a new tender as soon as possible:
“As for the new tender, I want it to be announced as soon as possible. Therefore, next week we will set up a supervisory and audit board to approve the criteria for participants.”
The Minister also noted that the funds raised by the Okhmatdyt Charitable Foundation will be transferred to the hospital’s treasury account. The audit and supervisory board will oversee their use.
Regarding the procedure for the new tender, Lyashko explained:
“We are announcing through the Prozorro procedure: the criteria for the announcement, who can apply, and the requirements for the contractor will be specified there and agreed with the supervisory board.”
According to the Minister, the process of publishing the new tender will take up to 16 days, after which proposals from potential contractors will be accepted for 7 days.
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After Ukrainians across the country donated money to rebuild the Okhmatdyt hospital, the hospital’s charitable foundation found itself at the centre of a scandal when it chose a contractor to repair the damaged building. The foundation chose Bud-technology LLC as the winner of the tender, despite the fact that this offer was one of the most expensive among 14 bidders.
The cost of the works by Bud-technology is UAH 307 million excluding VAT, while other participants offered to perform the repairs at a much lower cost – from UAH 42 to 286 million. The Fund did not provide any explanation for ignoring the cheaper bids, although at least seven of them contained fully completed commercial proposals with detailed descriptions of the work and prices.
Russian missile attack on Okhmatdyt hospital on 8 July
on 8 July 2024, during another massive missile attack during the Russian-Ukrainian war, the hospital suffered significant damage from a Russian X-101 cruise missile strike. The strike damaged the hospital’s buildings, destroyed some of the medical facility’s buildings, smashed windows and glass, and caused injuries.
The Russians destroyed the building of the Toxicology Department, where seriously ill children were on dialysis, five oncology departments, ten surgical departments, two somatic departments, an intensive care unit, two intensive care units, operating units, radiotherapy and radiotherapy departments, and three other buildings were damaged. Two electrical substations that powered the hospital’s entire infrastructure were also destroyed.
As of mid-day, two adults (one of them a doctor) and seven children were known to have been killed and injured. on 10 July, a boy died who was in critical condition in the intensive care unit at the time of the attack on Okhmatdyt on 8 July.
on 9 July 2024, the director of Okhmatdyt, Volodymyr Zhovnir, addressed the UN Security Council. In his speech, he stated that at the time of the attack, about 1,200 people were in the hospital and 3 complex operations were underway. The attack killed 2 people and injured about 300, including 8 children. He also noted that the attack damaged 24 departments, which will limit the ability to provide quality medical services to those in need.
Immediately after the attack on the hospital, Ukrainians started raising funds to rebuild Okhmatdyt.