U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) recently helped lead a bipartisan contingent of 16 lawmakers expressing “grave concerns” over the growing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and along its western border with Poland and recommended additional steps that could support the countries’ struggling healthcare systems.
“As you are aware, the healthcare system in Ukraine is on the verge of failure. Due to Russia’s indiscriminate targeting, roughly 119 hospitals and other medical facilities in Ukraine have been destroyed including a maternity ward,” wrote Rep. Cheney and her colleagues in an April 22 letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The members also noted that prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Polish healthcare system lacked a sufficient number of doctors and specialists for its population size and is currently buckling from the surge of refugees requiring medical care, according to their letter.
“You have a unique opportunity to showcase American leadership by providing critical medical support to Ukrainians that will inspire other NATO states to follow suit,” wrote Rep. Cheney and the lawmakers, who included U.S. Reps. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Peter Meijer (R-MI), Young Kim (R-CA), and Jason Crow (D-CO).
In their letter, the members specifically requested that the United States send armored ambulances to Ukrainian first responders and defense forces; deploy several military field hospital centers to the Ukraine-Poland border region and authorize U.S. medical personnel to care for the sick and wounded fighters and refugees; and scale up a regional medical center to treat fleeing and wounded Ukrainians who need more care than what is provided at the military field hospitals.
“Thank you for your continued leadership during the greatest crisis in Europe since World War II,” Rep. Cheney and her colleagues wrote. “We will work to ensure Congress serves its role and provides your agencies with all the resources necessary to address both the military and humanitarian aspects of this war.”