Doctor shortage in Mykolaiv has grown: The city lacks 35% of specialists, and one-third of doctors are of retirement age

Over the year, the shortage of doctors in Mykolaiv has increased: 35% of doctors are missing, and a third of them are of retirement age. Photo: archive NikVesti

In the Mykolaiv region, the staffing level of doctors is only 65%, and that of nurses is 77.8%.

This was reported by Iryna Tkachenko, head of the healthcare department of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, according to NikVesti.

As of November 2025, 2662 doctors and 5639 nurses work in the region.

About a third of doctors (911 people) have already reached retirement age. This is almost 3% more than in January 2025, when the shortage of doctors was 32%, and more than 850 doctors were over 60 years old.

«We are experiencing a large shortage of specialists in a number of specialities and are actively working to attract young doctors to work in the region,» said Iryna Tkachenko.

In addition, from 1 January 2026, the basic salary of primary and emergency care doctors will increase to 35,000 hryvnias. In addition, young specialists who sign a contract with a medical institution after their internship will receive financial support in the amount of 200 thousand hryvnias. Those who agree to work in rural areas can also count on public housing.

Earlier, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, said that the increase in salaries for medical workers in Ochakiv helped curb the outflow of specialists.