The end of 2021 marks the long-awaited completion of a number of construction projects for the healthcare system of the Vitebsk region. In December alone, the new building of the Regional Centre for Medical Rehabilitation of Internationalist Soldiers was solemnly opened, the polyclinic in Shumilino was renovated, and several medical institutions replenished their material and technical base. Today, on the eve of the New Year, the building of the psychoneurological dispensary of the Vitebsk Regional Clinical Centre for Psychiatry and Narcology on Kommunisticheskaya Street has been commissioned.
The solemn opening was attended by the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Alexander Subbotin, the Assistant to the President of the Republic of Belarus – Inspector for the Vitebsk Region Anatoly Linevich, a member of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Yuri Derkach, and other distinguished guests. The head of the region assessed the new conditions for the psychiatric service and communicated with the staff of the dispensary.
For the outpatient department, the new premises have become a truly real pre-New Year's gift, as the staff previously worked in rather cramped conditions in rented premises. Therefore, it was difficult to provide the full scope of specialized care at the proper level and to fully realise their potential.
The new premises will provide medical and diagnostic care for residents of Vitebsk and the region in such areas as psychiatry, narcology, psychotherapy, child psychiatry, and psychology. In addition to individual specialist offices, there is a hypnotherapy room, a physiotherapy room, a day hospital, etc.
The work of the dispensary is organised according to the "Caring Polyclinic" principle. Maximum comfort has been created for visitors, including cosy waiting areas, children's play areas, and an accessible environment for people with disabilities.
The institution follows current trends in the digitalisation of Belarusian healthcare. The dispensary is equipped with modern equipment for the informatisation of the medical and diagnostic process. There are all the possibilities for creating a unified system, including an electronic ticket and a digital outpatient patient card, an information database with storage and electronic transmission of examination results.
As noted by the Chief Physician of the Vitebsk Regional Clinical Centre for Psychiatry and Narcology, Elena Martynova, there has recently been an increase in the number of people in the region seeking psychiatric and psychological help. The COVID-19 pandemic played a certain role in this; the infection affects the nervous system and psyche, and local doctors are currently working with these consequences of COVID. The new facility will help medical professionals improve the quality and accessibility of specialised care for residents of Vitebsk and the region, meet the increased demand, and make every visit to the doctor as comfortable and effective as possible for the patient.
There are also plans for the building where the dispensary was previously located. As reported by the Head of the Main Department for Healthcare of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Mikhail Vishnevetsky, renovation work will begin there next year, after which Polyclinic No. 5 of Vitebsk will be located there.
The head of the region highlighted the increased attention to the healthcare system from local authorities.
“One of the main tasks is precisely the development of healthcare. The coronavirus infection has forced us to look at the medical industry with slightly different eyes. The work of medical staff has acquired critical importance. The plans are to complete the hospital in Markovshchina in Vitebsk by the end of 2022 – huge volumes of work, huge territories, but a start has been made. We want to complete what we have planned, and then proceed to the main facility – the regional hospital, to make it a modern centre in the region,” summed up Alexander Subbotin.
Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by