Maternity Hospital №3, which Mykolaiv has transferred to the regional authorities, still has outstanding wage arrears

Maternity Hospital №3 is now part of the regional clinical hospital in Mykolaiv. Photo from open sources

Maternity Hospital №3, which was transferred from Mykolaiv’s municipal ownership to the regional authorities, still has outstanding salary arrears for May. The city health department says this is a matter for the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU) and the regional authorities.

This came to light at a meeting of the Mykolaiv City Council’s Committee on Housing and Communal Services, according to NikVesti.

During the meeting, councillor Iryna Bondarenko raised the issue of wage arrears at Maternity Hospital №3.

«Maternity Hospital №3 — as you are aware, it has now been transferred to the jurisdiction of the Mykolaiv regional authorities; in other words, as of 1 June, it no longer falls under the jurisdiction of the Mykolaiv City Council,» replied Viktoriia Sadovska, deputy head of the city’s health department .

In response, the councillor said that the issue concerned arrears for May.

«We said that we would pay everything relating to the city budget funds for the maternity hospital. We have an approved programme. Only utility bills and land tax. These are paid from the city budget. Funds for salaries came from the National Health Service, that is, from the state budget. We were not authorised to pay from the city budget using state funds, do you understand? As of 1 June, there are no outstanding debts for utility services at the Third Maternity Hospital. Therefore, we have paid everything in full,» explained Viktoriia Sadovska.

Iryna Tkachenko, head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration’s Health Department, confirmed to NikVesti that the debt does exist.

«Yes, that is the case. I am currently on site sorting out the situation,» said the head of the regional health department.

NikVesti has submitted an information request regarding the outstanding wages owed to staff at the maternity hospital.

Reorganisation of Maternity Hospital №3

It should be recalled that in 2025, medical staff at Maternity Hospital №3 and the Mykolaiv Emergency Medical Service went several months without receiving their salaries. The delay in paying the medical staff’s wages was attributed to the fact that the contract with the National Health Service of Ukraine was signed later than planned. The arrears were cleared in March 2025.

In January 2026, it emerged that Maternity Hospital №3 was not receiving sufficient funding from the National Health Service of Ukraine due to the city’s critical demographic situation. The facility required additional funding from the city budget.

Subsequently, members of the Mykolaiv City Council supported a decision to reorganise the city’s healthcare network, which involved the creation of a cluster hospital and the transfer of one of the maternity hospitals to the ownership of the region.

On 9 April, at a session of the Mykolaiv City Council, councillors approved the transfer of Maternity Hospital №3 to the region’s ownership. The Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, stated that integrating the maternity hospital into the regional hospital was necessary to retain the staff.

On 16 April, councillors of the Mykolaiv Regional Council approved its transfer to regional ownership. On 28 May, the Mykolaiv Regional Council approved the act of accepting Maternity Hospital No. 3 into the region’s ownership as an integral property complex. The councillors reduced the hospital’s authorised capital to 1,000 hryvnias.

In June, during a meeting of the Mykolaiv Regional Council’s Committee on Ecology, Environmental Protection, Rational Use of Natural Resources, Tourism and Recreation, it emerged that the maternity hospital had wage arrears. According to preliminary information, the total amounted to 4 million, of which 1 million was owed for medicines supplied.

The Mykolaiv Regional Council merged Maternity Hospital №3 with the Regional Clinical Hospital. In addition, councillors increased its authorised capital to 5.5 million hryvnias. The issue of outstanding wages was not discussed at the session. The chairman of the regional council, Anton Tabunschyk, merely noted «certain indebted enterprises that need to be closed down».