The former deputy mayor of Kherson, Roman Holovnia, confirmed that during his time in the city administration there were attempts to merge the city’s maternity hospitals with the subsequent de facto control of the system by a single family of medics.
Holovnia said this in an interview with MOST.
According to him, the initiative to merge the maternity hospitals was lobbied by Kherson medics Yuriy and Oleksiy Herman — father and son. Yuriy Herman worked as a resident doctor in the obstetrics department of KNP “Kherson Regional Hospital.” Before that he was deputy chief physician for obstetric and gynecological care, but in 2019 that position was eliminated amid scandal.
His son Oleksiy is a co-founder of LLC “Medikgrup,” which owns the private clinic Taurt Medical. In 2022 he relocated the medical business to Odesa.
According to the ex-official, he was not directly forced, however he was pressured and instructed to handle the process of merging three maternity hospitals on the basis of the first maternity hospital.
He also noted that he opposed such a decision, considering it unfounded from a managerial and medical point of view. In particular, he stated that the first maternity hospital did not meet the necessary conditions: the building was outdated, the operating rooms were in inadequate condition, and the location in the city center lacked the necessary infrastructure.
At the same time, he proposed creating a single perinatal center on the basis of Luchanskyi Hospital, where, he said, the maternity ward was half-empty, the building was newer, and the hospital had an ICU, space for parking and potential for development.
At the same time, as Holovnia claims, the issue of appointing a representative of the Herman family as head of the merged institution was being raised in parallel. He called this an attempt to create a monopoly in the field of medical services, which, in his opinion, posed a threat to the city.
“If there is a monopoly, we will not be able to influence these processes. In other words, they will work as they see fit,” explained the former deputy mayor.
According to Holovnia, the attempt to concentrate control over maternity care provoked public resistance and an information campaign, which allowed him to reasonably oppose the decision. Ultimately, the parties agreed on the option of Luchanskyi Hospital, but the full-scale war prevented the plans from being implemented.
Recall, previously the Kherson city authorities planned to close two maternity hospitals and create a single perinatal center on the basis of Luchanskyi Hospital.