Onokivka municipality became the first hromada in Zakarpattia oblast to sign an agreement on inter-municipal cooperation. Thanks to this, the local authorities were able to provide their outpatient clinics with medical specialists and relieve the pressure from the Uzhgorod primary healthcare center.
According to Renata Ivankiv, deputy head of Onokivka municipality, almost 1,500 patients returned to outpatient clinics on the municipality’s territory during the first year of operation in the new format. However, this was preceded by a long-term work with Uzhgorod colleagues and representatives of U-LEAD with Europe.
“At that time, most of our residents were receiving medical services outside the municipality. It didn't make sense to create our own communal non-profit enterprise, so we started looking for other ways. It turned out that the best solution was an agreement on inter-municipal cooperation. And colleagues from Uzhgorod supported us. At the time of signing the contract, 3,500 residents had declarations with general practitioners in the municipality, and today there are 5,000 of them declared,” Ms Ivankiv said.