CLARK COUNTY, Wash. – More than 100 hospitals have been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine, severely limiting medical treatment for civilian population in many of the cities, towns and villages in the war zone areas. Clark County’s own Rotary Club of Three Creeks is doing something about it.
 
“Rotarians are ‘People of Action’, and while we can’t necessarily help out on the ground in Ukraine, we’re doing something to help those who need it,” said Rotary Club of Three Creeks President Kinsey Dhoot. “I’m so proud of how we’re putting funds raised locally to work, combined with investments from other area clubs and Rotary International to provide critical medical care to those living under some really scary circumstances in Ukraine.”
 
The Rotary Club of Three Creeks is one of 18 clubs in District 5100 – along the Columbia River from the Oregon Coast to the Idaho border, with its northern-most clubs in Battle Ground and southern-most clubs in Stayton – that participate in an international grant to help pay for portable medical facilities in Ukraine.
 
The 18 clubs contributed a total of $26,300, while District 5100 supported with $20,000 and The Rotary Foundation granted $16,000. The total $62,300 was enough money to support one medical unit and in partnership from another district fund a second unit as well.
 
“The Rotary Club of Three Creeks has the honor of being the international club to coordinate the US clubs and districts in fundraising and honoring commitments,” said Three Creeks Rotary International Chair Brian Heimbigner, who has carried most of the load completing the work on these medical units.
 
Each unit has trained doctors and nurses able to treat most simple to medium civilian medical needs including child birth. For more complicated ailments and surgery, they can stabilize patients before air or ambulance evacuation. Each unit has medical and dental equipment installed so that two patience can be treated at the same time. They are air conditioned and heated and have an emergency generator as well as a water purification system. They are also hardened to withstand nearby lesser explosions and small gunfire. They are towable using just an SUV or pickup, eliminating the need for heavy duty equipment and can be rapidly relocated when the military directs.
 
The medical unit supplied by the Rotary Club of Three Creeks and its District 5100 partners has been deployed to Mykolaiv, on the front line.
 
More than 100 hospitals have been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine through the war, which obviously limits access to medical treatment for civilians in many cities, towns and villages within the war zone.
 
The idea for these portable medical units started with two Danish businessmen – members of the Rotary Club of Lviv International (Ukraine). They developed the project, obtained support from Rotary International, designed the units and located a fabricator in western Ukraine out of harm’s way. They then coordinated the partnerships between clubs and districts in Ukraine, the United States and Canada. The large majority of the funds to build and equip the units is spent inside Ukraine, with the exception of some medical equipment that’s sourced from other European countries.