Name: How Ukrainian children receive urgent medical care during the war
Uploaded: 2025-11-10T15:01:17.913Z
Duration: 3 min 20 s
Description: Ukrainians are being forced to move toward the west to obtain medical care for children wounded by the war. Dr. Maija Cheung, the chief medical officer at Kids Operating Room, joins CBS News with more on her mission.

Ukrainians are being forced to move toward the west to obtain medical care for children wounded by the war. Dr. Maija Cheung, the chief medical officer at Kids Operating Room, joins CBS News with more on her mission.

Kyiv

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

As the war in Ukraine continues with no clear resolution, hospitals in the western city of Lviv are facing a surge in pediatric patients due to internal migration. Many families have relocated to escape the front lines, resulting in three times as many children requiring medical care, including treatment for war trauma and mine injuries.

To address these challenges, the non-profit Kids Operating Room has opened six new solar-powered pediatric operating rooms in a previously unused area of a Lviv hospital. These facilities are designed to operate safely during power outages and are equipped with specialized tools and comforting environments to support the recovery of over 12,000 children annually.

How Ukrainian children receive urgent medical care during the war

The Kremlin this morning has blamed Kiev over the stalling of efforts to bring the war in Ukraine to an end. Both Ukraine and Europe have rejected Moscow's charge that they're blocking peace. And this comes as the, what, more than four year conflict still appears to have no clear end in sight. As the fighting rages on, I'm joined now by Dr. Maya Chung. She is the chief medical officer of Kids Operating Room. This is a global non-profit that earlier this month opened six new pediatric OR sites, suites in Ukraine's western city of Lviv. Doctor, welcome. Thank you for being here. It's important for us to not just be reminded of the conflict in Ukraine, but the efforts to heal, especially children. Can you just give us an update, since you were there recently, on what's happening on the ground and how dire is the need to help kids? Absolutely, well, thank you so much for having me here. I think what's really important to remember, especially about the ongoing conflict, is it affects the families on the ground. So the site that we've been working at in Ukraine is in the west, and they've seen all of this internal migration because families are moving their children away from the front lines. So three times the number of children are needed to be cared for now at these hospitals in the west. And there's a lot of war trauma, mine injuries that they're taking care of as well. So a very different but important aspect to caring for children. And what resources are available to care for children? Because as you've mentioned, even though it may be in the west, where they don't have as many strikes, we see so much footage of devastation in the big cities, and there have been power outages too. So how is that mitigated in the places you help? Absolutely, so one of the big things that we do is actually do solar power for all of our operating rooms. So these hospitals in the west, they have increased attacks on the grids, especially in the winter months. And imagine having your child being operated on when the power is going out. That's just untenable and unsafe. So in addition to taking an abandoned area of the hospital that was dilapidated and unused, because there weren't funds to actually create operating room infrastructure, to be able to now do six new operating rooms there with solar power to care for over 12,000 children a year, it's incredibly impactful. And the teams there, the resilience they've shown and the work they do is really incredible. Yeah, the resilience from Ukrainians is something we kind of remark on frequently. Help people understand though what is required to create an operating room, because it has to be sterile, quiet, not just powered, but clean and able to help people get better. So how do you do that? Yeah, absolutely. And that sterile and clean part is really important because otherwise children can have infections. So we start with a basic structure. We do a lot of renovations. This site in Ukraine required new electricity, new plumbing. And then over 3,500 pieces of equipment is required for an operating room, from lights to tables, anesthetic machines. Children aren't just little adults. They need smaller tools, specialized instruments, and really also artwork that goes on the walls because children are afraid when they go to the operating room, as I think adults are. So to be able to alleviate some of that and provide a calm, caring, hopeful space for them and their families, it's really a huge team effort. Well, it's so needed and I'm thankful that you were able to come here with us today and share some of what your organization is doing. Thank you so much for what you do, Dr. Chung. Thank you. Thank you so much.

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How Ukrainian children receive urgent medical care during the war

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Ukraine Invasion