The innovative rehabilitation center for wounded soldiers, part of the national RECOVERY network, has launched in Lutsk. Equipped with cutting-edge technology, the center’s multidisciplinary team will provide free services to over 1,500 soldiers annually. This is the 13th center in the RECOVERY network, founded by Victor and Olena Pinchuk to support the security and defense forces.
The RECOVERY project exemplifies a successful partnership between the private sector and the state, where philanthropists establish innovative rehabilitation centers within state medical facilities. For instance, a center meeting global standards of technology and inclusivity has been created in one of Volyn’s key medical institutions with project funding. Up to 50 soldiers injured in combat can receive free rehabilitation services at the center simultaneously.
“We want to contribute — to help our warriors and bring victory closer. Not everyone can be on the front lines, but we all want to be part of this journey. The doctors in these centers do their work, helping our heroes, knowing they are working towards victory. For me, my wife, and our family, this is one of the ways we can contribute to victory. And it’s what unites us,” said Victor Pinchuk, the founder of the RECOVERY project.
The medical and rehabilitation area of the Lutsk RECOVERY center includes a large physical rehabilitation hall, two halls for individual sessions, massage rooms, assistive technology rooms, and offices for occupational therapy, physiotherapy, magnetotherapy, laser therapy, psychological relief, an attending physician’s office, a dining area, and rooms for the center’s multidisciplinary team.
The physical rehabilitation halls are equipped with virtual reality systems that provide feedback to the patients. Gamified, task-oriented training programs are developed for soldiers to enhance their motivation for recovery. As a result, intensive sessions speed up the warriors’ rehabilitation process.
“Now, with state-of-the-art equipment, we can rehabilitate our soldiers at a high-tech level according to global standards. The opening of such an innovative center from the RECOVERY network in Volyn is a significant contribution to restoring the health of Ukraine’s defenders,” said Taras Ikalo, head of the Lutsk rehabilitation center in the RECOVERY network.
The inpatient department of the Lutsk RECOVERY center accommodates 50 beds. All rooms are equipped with functional furniture and accessible bathrooms and showers. Additionally, the center has a nurse’s station, treatment rooms, a procedure room, a relaxation area, staff rooms, and utility rooms. An additional ceiling lift system is installed in this wing for parallel gait training.
The multidisciplinary medical teams at the centers include specialists in physical rehabilitation medicine, physical therapists, occupational therapists, massage therapists, assistants, speech and language therapists, and psychologists. They provide high-quality, accessible, evidence-based rehabilitation care to Ukrainian defenders thanks to advanced equipment and expertise.
Education is a priority component of RECOVERY. So far, 2,000 medical professionals have participated in 60 seminars, workshops, and exchange programs aimed at enhancing their skills. This summer, the network’s teams interned in Latvia, where they learned about the country’s rehabilitation centers, protocols, and methods. Additionally, network specialists visited the University of Michigan in the USA, studying pain management in the Department of Anesthesiology.
It is planned that by the winter of 2024/2025, the RECOVERY network will host 80 educational events, with more than 3,300 members of multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams participating.
In addition to Lutsk, RECOVERY’s innovative rehabilitation centers offer free services in Kyiv, Lviv, Rivne, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Odesa (two facilities), and Dnipropetrovsk region (three facilities). In total, the centers in the national network have provided rehabilitation assistance to 13,000 patients. The project’s founders, Victor and Olena Pinchuk, plan to expand the network to at least 18 innovative rehabilitation centers, serving about 25,000 soldiers annually.