One-third of doctors are missing, and junior nurses earn less than 10 thousand: staff and salaries of Primary Health Care Center No. 7
The staffing problem has been ongoing for years
At the Primary Health Care Center No. 7, which serves the main part of the Korabelnyi District of Mykolaiv, there remains a noticeable staff shortage: medical positions are filled only at 66.7%. At the same time, the average salary of junior nurses for the first half of 2026 did not even reach 10 thousand hryvnias.
These data are contained in the official response of the municipal non-profit enterprise KNP MMR “Primary Health Care Center No. 7” dated 29 July 2026 to an information request from the editorial office of Korabelov.info. The document was signed by the acting director of the center, Svitlana Kursa.
One in three doctor positions is missing
As of 1 July 2026, the center was staffed with doctors at 66.7%. Therefore, approximately 33.3% of the planned doctor positions remain vacant — in fact, every third specialist is missing.
The institution is staffed with nursing personnel at 80.7% on average. This means a shortage of about 19.3% of employees in this category. Only the positions of junior medical staff, according to the center’s response, are filled at 100%.
At the same time, the document does not specify how many authorized positions are provided and how many people actually work at the institution. Therefore, it is impossible to determine the exact number of doctors and nurses lacking based on the percentages alone.
From 9 786 to 30 535 hryvnias
The average salary of employees of PHC Center No. 7 for the first 6 months of 2026 was:
- family doctors — 30 535 UAH;
- pediatricians — 29 837 UAH;
- nurses — 20 938 UAH;
- center administration — 17 268 UAH;
- junior nurses — 9 786 UAH.
Thus, the average salary of a family doctor turned out to be 3.1 times higher than that of a junior nurse. Pediatricians received roughly three times more. Even the average salary of the administration exceeded the pay of junior nurses by 7 482 UAH.
At the same time, the response does not clarify whether the amounts shown are before taxes or after deductions, nor whether bonuses, allowances, part-time work and different workloads of employees are taken into account. Therefore, these figures cannot be called net take-home pay.
The staffing problem has lasted for years
The shortage of medical workers in the Korabelnyi District did not arise today. Back in 2017 the center’s management reported that for 12,500 children there were only 7 pediatricians, who by standards could fully serve about 5,600 children. At that time a doctor’s salary was about 3,500 UAH, which discouraged young graduates from taking district doctor positions.
After the medical reform, the incomes of primary care doctors increased significantly. In 2019, the head of PHC Center No. 7, Olena Vlasova, said that in some centers doctors, instead of 6,000 UAH, began to receive 16–18,000 UAH net. However, even the increase in salaries did not solve the issues of work quality and the shortage of specialists.
The war took patients and doctors
In May 2025 Olena Vlasova reported that since the beginning of the full-scale war PHC Center No. 7 lost about 7,000 declarations: some residents left Mykolaiv, and some doctors resigned or left the city. The reduction in the number of declarations directly affects the funding of primary care, since funds from the National Health Service depend on the number of patients. (Novyny Mykolaieva sʹohodni)
In August 2025 the city authorities continued to reduce administrative staff of primary care centers, expecting to save about 1.1 million UAH. The optimization also affected the registrar of one of the family outpatient clinics in the Korabelnyi District.
Salaries rose, the deficit remained
Compared to 2017, the nominal salary of doctors at PHC Center No. 7 has increased several times. However, as of mid-2026 the institution was still staffed with doctors at only two thirds.
This indicates that the problem is not only the level of salaries. The staffing situation is affected by the war, the departure of the population and medical workers, reduced funding due to loss of declarations, workload on staff and constant plans to reorganize communal medicine.
Particular attention is drawn to the pay of junior nurses. Despite 100-percent staffing of this category, the average salary is only 9 786 UAH — the lowest among all groups of employees listed in the response.
Earlier we wrote:
- Saved lives and worked until her last day: a 75-year-old doctor in the Korabelnyi District passed away
- Optimization of medicine: Mykolaiv reduces administrative staff, saving 1.1 million UAH
- Deputies “sank” the merger of medical institutions in Mykolaiv – Senkevych will resolve the issue with Kim
- “Don’t touch us!”, — medical workers of the Korabelnyi District stood up to defend their clinic
- Mykolaiv’s medics — without salaries: due to “dead souls” in declarations funding fell by 17 million hryvnias
