Project No. 18 – SafeMed: Capsule Hospital Concept in Shostka city

Safety, autonomy and continuity of healthcare in crisis conditions

The full-scale war, continuous shelling and the risk of damage to critical infrastructure require a new approach to the organization of healthcare.

Under such conditions, it is important to have not only modern medical equipment, but also a protected space capable of operating during disruptions to electricity, heating and water supply.

This need gave rise to the idea of SafeMed – a Capsule Hospital, an autonomous and functional medical facility designed to operate in emergency situations.

The concept is based on a protected medical space that is as autonomous and functional as possible and adapted to operate under emergency conditions. The main idea is to ensure that, even in difficult circumstances, medical staff are not forced to stop working and patients continue to receive the necessary care.

Why this project is relevant today

For a border city hromada, safety is of particular importance.

We must think not only about how a hospital operates under normal conditions. We need to plan ahead: what happens if part of the building is damaged? What if there are power outages? How can ventilation, oxygen and water supplies be maintained? Where can emergency surgery be performed? Where can patients be stabilized? How can the continuity of medical staff operations be ensured?

This is why SafeMed is first and foremost about continuity of healthcare?

The idea is not to create another conventional hospital department. We propose establishing a separate, protected medical space with its own life-support systems that can operate autonomously in crisis conditions.

Thus, SafeMed aims to transform emergency response into the proactive establishment of backup medical infrastructure.

Cooperation experience and municipal resilience

It is important for us that the SafeMed project has not emerged in isolation.

Shostka Hospital already has experience working with international partners and implementing projects aimed at improving energy efficiency, autonomy and the quality of healthcare.

With the support of EU4ResilientRegion/GIZ, the hospital received solar panels worth approximately UAH 4.6 million, implemented capital renovation and equipped a rehabilitation department and center worth approximately UAH 8.96 million, and received a mobile clinic – an IVECO DAILY 72C15 vehicle worth approximately UAH 8.9 million.

With the support of the IOM, the hospital received generators, equipment and other essential supplies worth approximately UAH 3.8 million.

With the support of the UNDP, a vehicle for providing palliative care was purchased, worth approximately UAH 3.6 million.

Another important area is cooperation on energy security with Tetra Tech ES, Inc. Within this project, the hospital received four modular boiler units for autonomous heating, with a total value of approximately UAH 9.5 million.

This experience demonstrates one important point: the community is already moving towards building a resilient healthcare system. SafeMed is the next step in this process.

The Capsule Hospital Concept

The project involves creating a system of separate, sealed and autonomous medical modules – “capsules” – within the basement premises of the hospital’s main building.

The total medical area will exceed 330 square metres.

The aim is to create a fully functional medical environment in which each space has a clearly defined purpose, while the entire system operates as an integrated complex.

The project includes an operating room, intensive care unit, recovery rooms, sterilization, disinfection and treatment areas, as well as spaces for storing medicines and essential supplies.

In other words, the aim is to create conditions in which patients can not only be admitted but also receive comprehensive care – ranging from emergency treatment to stabilization and subsequent recovery.

Autonomy — the key feature of SafaMed

One of the project’s main advantages is its autonomy.

The capsule hospital is designed to incorporate independent and backup systems that will allow it to continue operating even when external utility networks are disrupted.

First and foremost, this concerns power supply. The energy system combines generators, solar panels and energy storage systems, including a Deye battery storage system with a capacity of 61.44 kWh.

The project also provides autonomous ventilation systems with air filtration and disinfection, oxygen supply capabilities, backup water supply, and structural solutions designed to provide protection against blast waves, smoke and fire.

Thus, SafeMed is a system in which safety is achieved not through a single element, but through a combination of interconnected solutions.

Project cost

The total project cost is UAH 48.2 million, or approximately EUR 995,867.

Approximately UAH 13.68 million is allocated for construction and installation works and the creation of the capsule facilities.

The largest share of the budget – approximately UAH 28.29 million – is allocated for medical and non-medical equipment, including the surgical unit, intensive care, patient rooms and other necessary equipment.

A further UAH 3.62 million is allocated for autonomous systems, including ventilation, power supply and water supply.

Approximately UAH 1.81 million is allocated for staff training.

Another UAH 0.8 million is reserved for contingencies and modernization.

Population:

The Shostka Urban Territorial Community is located in the territory of the Shostka District in the Sumy Region.

The total surface area of the territory is 1,254.58 km2.

Population: 91,154 residents 

• Men: 46,157
• Women: 35,774
• Children: 11,948
• Pensioners: 28,821
• Internally displaced persons: 4,150

Shostka is a northern industrial and economic centre of the Sumy Region. Its key industrial sectors include food, pharmaceutical, engineering, chemical, woodworking sectors, production of electrical and insulating materials, production and distribution of electrical and thermal energy.

In early 2022, more than 800 enterprises and institutions, as well as about 2.5 thousand entrepreneurs, were registered in the territory of the administrative centre of the Shostka Community.

Shostka city hromada: a future born of trust, nature, and interaction

While big cities compete for investment, small communities are building the future through the prism of local resources, interaction with people, and rethinking their space. In the north of Sumy region, a few dozen kilometers from the Russian border, the residents of Shostka have come together to think about their future together with the spatial development office. 

Shostka municipality creates something that has never been seen in Ukraine in this format before — a spatial vision of the community based on in-depth research and dialogue.

The vision envisages specific spatial scenarios. This is not just a desire to improve something – it is the logic of change. Thus, a territory completely oriented towards industry is undergoing transformation and rethinking of abandoned industrial zones: into a reserve, new housing, a waterfront, cultural spaces in place of abandoned “gray zones”.

What is the essence of vision and why is it important?

Strategic thinking is a show of courage. But even more, it is a show of respect for the people who stay, work, and believe in their communities. This document is not just another strategic piece of paper. It is living map of the future, formed from the opinions of more than four hundred residents, field observations, analysis of urban planning data, the potential of nature and values ​​that were voiced in village clubs, school classrooms, specialist offices and on benches near high-rise buildings.

In this model, the city of Shostka does not pull the community towards itself, but is its open core – one that unites production, service functions, educational and cultural potential. And the villages are not the periphery, but active parts with their own logic, dignity and resources. 

Trust is the basis for development

In communities that have gone through trauma — full-scale war, threats of occupation, loss of people and resources — trust becomes the most scarce and at the same time the most valuable currency.

Shostka’s vision is not a declaration. It is an attempt to give people the feeling that they are heard, their opinions matter, their experience is the basis, not an ornament for the presentation. And it is precisely because of this that it works. Because no one knows the community better than those who live in it every day.