At least 16 out of 60 tomographs, procured in two recent years, still don’t function. These are the findings of NGL.media’s investigation into computer tomographs (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging scanners (MRI), ordered by the budget institutions in 2023–2024.
NGL.media became interested in this topic in May, when Serhii Prytula, a well-known volunteer, initiated a fundraising effort for the urgent procurement of a new tomograph for a military hospital in Kharkiv, because the old one had broken down. At the same time, in Drohobych in the Lviv region, a tomograph, paid for with the budget finances in 2022, still doesn’t function.
This investigation has become possible thanks to the participants of the NGL.media community, who have access to special content and possibilities.
According to the Prozorro data, in 2023–2024, the state-run institutions ordered a total of 62 tomographs and spent UAH 2.33 billion on them. The editorial office of NGL.media has contacted all the recipients with the same set of questions, the key one being the intention to find out whether the procured equipment is being used for the specified purpose – to examine patients.
Only 35 out of a total of over 60 tomographs in hospitals are fully functioning, and one more is in testing mode. Nine medical institutions failed to install equipment due to the absence of prepared premises. Someone is just starting the repair work, some say they are almost ready, but there are also hospitals that just don’t have any space for new tomographs. Five more medical institutions are in the process of passing the authorization procedures, and two more have ongoing installation work.
Two years of waiting
Two hospitals, relocated from the Luhansk region, procured CT in 2023, but it is still unknown when they will start working. For instance, in the autumn of 2023, the Lysychansk multi-field hospital, relocated to Dnipro, ordered a computer tomograph Somatom go.UP at the price of almost UAH 20 million, which was delivered in December of the same year. The supplier kept it for several months, then it was transferred to the municipal enterprise in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
“The equipment was purchased to prepare for the liberation of Lysychansk. The commissioning depends on the liberation of the town and the security situation in the region,” Dmytrii Lytvyniuk, the director general of the hospital, explained to NGL.media.
The hospital cannot install and use the CT due to strict requirements for the rented premises. Therefore, they can’t obtain a licence from the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRI). “The hospital is conducting negotiations and looking for ways to solve the problem,” the director general of the Lysychansk multi-field hospital claims.
The CT, ordered by the Severodonetsk multi-field hospital (relocated to the Kyiv region), hasn’t been commissioned yet either, because “a specific algorithm of long-term actions” still has to be implemented, including major repair of the premises.
The chief department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv procured the CT in 2023, too, but it has not been commissioned and doesn’t function yet. “The relevant work on bringing the premises in line with the operational requirements for the computer tomograph is ongoing,” Roman Rudak, the acting head of the department, told NGL.media and added that the premises for the CT were not ready “due to the reasons beyond the department’s control”.
As for the place for the tomograph in the Yarmolyntsi multi-field hospital (Khmelnytskyi region), it is ready, but they are waiting for the results of amending the licence. The hospital purchased the CT in 2023 for UAH 22.8 million, then the premises were repaired, and this March the CT was commissioned. They hired a radiologist but are still unable to provide services. The problem lies in amending the hospital’s licence.
The same situation has happened with the CT for UAH 36 million in the Samar central city hospital in the Dnipropetrovsk region, procured in the summer of 2023. While the building was being reconstructed, the tomograph was kept by the supplier. It has already been assembled, and additional sections are being connected. But the authorization documents from the SNRI are still to be obtained.
Not all tomographs ordered in 2024 are functioning either. The reasons are mainly the same – either the premises are not ready, or not all the permits have been obtained yet. Someone’s situation is even worse – they have bought a tomograph and have no money to repair the premises.
For instance, a military regiment А-1028 ordered a CT in early 2024. “Artek Medical Group” LLC, the seller, delivered it in May of the same year. However, it was not installed until almost a year later, at the end of April this year. Yet they can’t conduct any diagnostics, because the repaired office has no electricity, and the building repair, started in 2023, is not yet finished.
“It is unknown when the repair will be finished due to the absence of financing,” the head of the military regiment A-1028 explained in response to NGL.media’s inquiry.
A tomograph functions. How to do it fast?
In some medical institutions, the process of tomograph installation takes up to two years, and it still doesn’t function. At the same time, there are instances of successful installation and commissioning of the equipment in a very short time.
One such example is the Krasnokutska central district hospital in the Kharkiv region, which procured a CT for almost UAH 23 million in 2023. The equipment was delivered in August of the same year, and a month later it was commissioned. Patients have been examined with the tomograph since December 2023.
Anton Lysenko, a radiologist at this hospital, told us that by preparing the authorization documents in advance, the hospital was able to start a full-fledged examination of patients quickly. Although the hospital is situated in a settlement of 7 thousand residents, about 2.5 thousand patients are examined there each month.
Positive instances of fast commissioning are known in other institutions as well. The territorial medical union of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Chernihiv region received a computer tomograph on December 11, 2023, and commissioned it on December 22, that is 11 days later. Olena Yarosh, the deputy director, says that at first they prepared the premises, and obtained the permission from the SNRI fast because they highlighted the fact of receiving many wounded. And it worked.
In less than a month after obtaining, the MRIs were commissioned in Kyiv, at the M.D. Strazhesko Institute of Cardiology, Clinical and Regenerative Medicine, and in the Khmelnytskyi regional hospital.
Some hospitals conceal information about new CTs and MRIs
Four institutions haven’t answered to NGL.media’s inquiries, so we haven’t managed to find out the fate of tomographs in these medical establishments. Some haven’t responded at all, and some decided that they don’t have to. For instance, the Obukhiv multi-field hospital of intensive treatment substantiated their refusal to provide information with the statements that the Law “On Access to Public Information” doesn’t cover them, and NGL.media’s inquiry contained no signature (actually, the legislation doesn’t require a signature on inquiries, sent by e-mail).
The reason for this refusal may lie in the fact that the MRI, procured by this hospital min 2023 for UAH 39 million still doesn’t function. At least, this February, the State Audit Service has found out that the tomograph is being kept in the storage in the disassembled state. And this April, the warranty period for maintenance and repair of expensive equipment has expired.
Authors Elina Hoian and Oleksandra Hubytska, editor Oleh Onysko, infographics Nazar Tuziak, translation Nelya Plakhota, cover Viktoria Demchuk