Heart hospital in Ukraine treating wounded civilians

Cardiothoracic surgeon Igor Mokryk, MD, PhD, spent last week taking his family on a 370-mile journey from Kyiv, Ukraine, to the Polish border, where they joined approximately 2 million other war refugees in Poland. He then turned around and drove back to war-torn Kyiv to continue at his post and treat patients at the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. 

Mokryk is the chief of the department of adult cardiac surgery at the hospital. He said they are still treating patients, but the cardiac OR is now located in the hospital's bomb shelter. The hospital is located about 3 miles northeast of the the city center and 4 miles south of a power station that was hit by early on by Russian forces.

"We continue to treat our cardiac surgery patients, though the number is reduced because not so many can travel to Kyiv. But, we help everyone who needs it," Mokryk told Cardiovascular Business this week. "And also we continue to receive victims of war and we are helping them."

The hospital is located 7 miles from the front lines in the suburb of Brovary, where the Russians are attempting to enter Kyiv from the east. The hospital has already started seeing civilian patients who were wounded due to the fighting. 

Mokryk posted a video on his LinkedIn account March 15 that showed a wounded civilian patient he is treating. The patient was shot by Russian soldiers as he attempted to get his family away from the front lines. 

"A couple days ago he was trying to evacuate his family — his wife, his daughter who is 9-years-old, and their friend by car while active combat was going on," Mokryk said. "They were stopped by Russian soldiers, and for whatever reason, the Russian soldiers started shooting at them. He managed to jump into his car and was able to escape. He was transported to our hospital by ambulance a couple hours later. We found he received two bullet wounds. One bullet was in the upper lobe of his lung and another was in his foot. With surgery we retrieved both of those bullets and now he is doing OK. Unfortunately this is the face of war, and civilians are suffering most," 

He said Ukrainian doctors are doing what they can to help their country, including staying at their posts in their hospitals to help people, despite the dangers.

"We are in our places and trying to do everything we can and to help everyone we can to stay proficient, stay human and to stay doctors," Mokryk said. "But how can we call the Russian soldiers [human], I don't know."