A local nonprofit is building a hospital in Romania to help those without healthcare in Ukraine.
ServingHIM, a faith-based organization, was founded by dentist Dr. Kevin Seidler 25 years ago. The nonprofit is funding the hospital, which will be an expansion of its clinic. The construction is being overseen by Dr. Cameron Nelson of the Cooper Clinic of North Dallas.
The hospital, built two hours from the Ukraine border in Romania, will take the place of facilities that have been destroyed since Russia invaded Ukraine.
“There were 400-some-odd hospitals in Ukraine that were either destroyed or damaged,” Nelson told Fox News.
Nelson said the state of healthcare is dire in the region, with medication, including insulin for diabetics and chemotherapeutics for people with cancer, in short supply. In addition, surgical supplies to help those injured in combat are also limited.
ServingHIM has the $2 million needed to get permits and to start the interior finish-out construction next month. However, the nonprofit still needs additional funding to complete the build, which is scheduled for the next 12 to 18 months.
The ServingHIM hospital will begin operations on September 1, and Nelson plans to travel there to help out.
“Romania is NATO and EU, so I feel comfortable there. I feel like the possibility of increased volume; we need to prepare for that,” he said.
Nelson said the nonprofit’s mission is about more than helping build a regional hospital.
“Not only do we provide excellence in health care, but we are able to share faith. This is an outreach of a local church there,” he said.
Once completed, the hospital staff will consist of American doctors supporting and training Romanian physicians.
More than 1.1 million Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Romania since the start of the Russian invasion, though many eventually leave for other countries in the European Union. Romania was hosting 84,357 displaced Ukrainians as of August 2.
“Addressing their needs will require the mobilisation of additional resources in the healthcare and social systems, which came under great strain during the pandemic…” the European Commission said in May.