Working with healthcare facilities in a wartime environment, we see just how complex the challenges they face are — and how many solutions require not just ad hoc assistance, but joint action, strong representation, and long-term partnerships.

Therefore, this platform aims to create a unified and influential voice for frontline healthcare, strengthen hospital capacity, mobilize resources for recovery and development, and represent their interests in national and international forums.

An analysis of the situation in the healthcare sector across nine frontline regions revealed the need for a systematic approach to addressing shared challenges. This led to the idea of establishing the Association of Frontline Hospitals, which will represent their shared interests and help translate real needs into concrete solutions.

Healthcare facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine will become partners of the Association. We have already received over 60 applications from hospitals seeking to become partners of the Association. Each facility will be assessed for integrity and transparency in its operations, after which the Association will sign memorandums of partnership and cooperation with them.

Frontline hospitals provide daily medical care to communities in conditions where the usual rules of the healthcare system often do not apply. This includes 216 frontline communities, home to 6.6 million Ukrainians. And each of them deserves unimpeded access to quality medical care as close to home as possible.

Key Functions of the Association of Frontline Hospitals:

• strengthening the capacity of medical facilities by mobilizing resources for infrastructure recovery, procurement of equipment and medications, and other critical needs;
• representing shared interests before state institutions, international organizations, and donors;
• collecting and analyzing data on the actual conditions and needs of healthcare facilities to ensure that support decisions are evidence-based;
• developing medical teams through new opportunities for training, professional development, and international exchange of expertise.

The Association’s first presentation to the professional and international community took place on September 2–3, 2026, at the Ukraine ReHealth 2026 conference in Kyiv.

However, even before its official launch, the Association of Frontline Hospitals received its first significant support — ISAR Ednannia provided resources to implement the initiative, believing in the idea of uniting and strengthening civil society.

Hospitals in frontline regions — regardless of their field of activity or specialization — largely face common challenges and have similar needs. Therefore, a common platform for advocating for their interests and representing them before Ukrainian stakeholders, as well as international partners and donors, will help systematically address these challenges rather than providing ad hoc support to individual medical facilities.

We invite frontline hospitals, partners, international and Ukrainian organizations, and government institutions to collaborate with us.

This post was created by the Charitable Foundation ZDOROVI with the support of the Askold and Dir Fund as part of the Strong Civil Society of Ukraine – a Driver towards Reforms and Democracy project, implemented by ISAR Ednannia, funded by Norway and Sweden. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of ZDOROVI and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Government of Norway, the Government of Sweden, and ISAR Ednannia.