Hospital reform in post-soviet countries: the case of Ukraine and Moldova

298 words) Hospital reform in post-soviet countries: the case of Ukraine and Moldova We can observe nowadays all over the world private companies providing health care services: hospital design, medical equipment, management and consulting. Since 1990, postsoviet states, such as Ukraine and Moldova, have gone through a process of reform of their health care systems. These countries represent a new market opportunity for international economic actors. This paper explores the foreign influences in reforming the hospital institution of former Soviet Union states, assuming their interest in the existing international experience in the field. I study the hospital as an institution, focusing on its design and construction. After the Soviet Union's collapse, this point became significant on the health care reform agenda. A drastic reduction of the hospital beds, infrastructure modernization and new medical equipment need to integrate the new economical and societal changes. This paper consists of two parts. First, I examine the characteristics of hospitals in Ukraine and in Moldova from a historical-comparative perspective. Relying on the historical institutionalism, I will reveal the significant patterns that emerged during the Soviet period, while considering them as mechanisms potentially delaying the institutional change. Second, I will analyse the process of construction of Children Hospital of the Future, in Kiev, Ukraine. This project, considered significant, innovative and high-standard by country’s political leaders and mass-media, engages local and international firms. I will explore in detail the actors involved, their preferences and capabilities, as well as the institutional environment that led to the approval of foreign hospital design. In the context of the growing body of literature on diffusion in political science, this paper examines the external sources of influence in the hospital reform of post-soviet countries through the analysis of international companies' involvement in the process of hospital design.