OLHA MARTYNENKO

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image (4)Expert in the Department of Health of the Luhansk regional state administration in the direction of infectious diseases, having been head of the infectious diseases department of Rubizhne Central City Hospital since 2003. In March 2020, Rubizhne Central City Hospital was designated as the primary hospital for treating COVID-19 patients in the Luhansk region. Even before the first COVID patient was identified in Ukraine, in January 2020, Olha Martynenko began training specialists in the infectious diseases service of the Luhansk region and the staff of her department for the pandemic. She also conducts active educational activities among the population of the city and region. Her department was the only one in the entire Luhansk region to receive COVID-19 patients for the first two months of the pandemic. Despite all the difficulties and grueling work, none of the staff in the infectious diseases department left.

Olha Martynenko was recognized as the winner of the Light of Justice Award in the medical field in 2020 for her moral, spiritual, and ethical leadership.

Olha Martynenko comments on the honor:

“For me, receiving this award signifies a high regard and sense of gratitude for both my own work and the work of my colleagues. This year was difficult; it took away our peace, sleep, rest, and thoughts about it. Unfortunately, this year took our colleagues away from us, but it taught us to appreciate life and forced us to pay attention to the work of doctors and respect it.

In a difficult time, many caring people gave us a helping hand; without them, we would not have survived. These were philanthropists, international organizations, deputies, and ordinary people who bought us protective suits. That’s why we started calling them our guardian angels. I am glad that there are more and more such angels, and they are now also in Lviv because you also support us and give us confidence that we are not alone in this struggle.”