St. Anne’s University Hospital (FNUSA) in Brno currently employs 27 Ukrainian workers. The hospital has added to this initiative by offering social and legal counselling, as well as housing and jobs. Photo credit: FNUSA.
Brno, March 14 (BD) – To express support for Ukrainian refugees, Brno’s FNUSA is actively participating in their integration by offering a place to live, a job or a place in schools for children. “In the first week, more than 20 people benefited from the offer for help with social and legal issues. Most often, we help Ukrainian citizens with visas and health insurance,” said HR manager Lucie Kulhava, who initiated the program.
She also helps to find free accommodation and places in schools for the incoming families. “At 8am, a nurse from the hall called me to say that they had a cleaning lady from Ukraine who needed help. She has a daughter in a late stage of pregnancy, and at the last minute she decided to leave Ukraine. She took her child and two teenage children who had lost their parents,” Kulhava said. The son of one of the doctors helped with transport from the border, and housing suitable for the newborn was found and arranged thanks to personal contacts.
The next day, the necessary documents had to be arranged – in this case, visas had to be obtained immediately, as they are linked to health insurance, essential for the birth. They took care of further things such as handover of the apartment, equipment for the baby, finalization of the procedure regarding school registration, lease contract and prenatal care with an interpreter.
“It’s 38 hours after the first contact with the cleaning lady in the hall. Her daughter lives with the kids, she has a residence permit and goes to the maternity ward tomorrow, the kids go to school after spring break. It was a bit stressful, but thanks to the incredible support and solidarity of everyone involved, everything finally came to an end,” said Kulhavá.
FNUSA responded to the appeal from the National Center for Nursing and Non-Medical Health (NCO NZO) and last week accommodated 15 Ukrainian people in the proposed facilities. Children were catered for by the creation of the children’s corner, which was built with material and financial contributions from NCO NZO employees.
“They were able to at least for a moment forget about the difficulties they have experienced in the past few days. Their joyful laughter was the greatest reward for those who contributed to the construction of housing and facilities. The successful and quick response to the situation is largely due to the effective cooperation and helpfulness of both organizations, who wish to develop this cooperation further,” said the director of NCO NZO, Michaela Hofštetrová Knotková.
The solution also includes job offers at FNUSA and NCO NZO. “We offer vacancies to Ukrainians, currently, for example, in the catering service or in the field of auxiliary technical work,” said Deputy Director of Operations Michal Janota.
Hospital employees have also joined a fundraising campaign, which is providing medical supplies to help in the impacted areas. To date, CZK 227,000 has been raised.
