Samaritan's Purse to Set Up Emergency Field Hospital in Ukraine
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- Updated Mar 11, 2022
![Samaritan's Purse to Set Up Emergency Field Hospital in Ukraine](https://i.swncdn.com/media/700w/via/24498-lviv-ukraine-andriyko-podilnyk-unsplash.jpg)
Samaritan's Purse is setting up an emergency field hospital in an underground parking garage in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.
Rev. Franklin Graham, who leads the Christian humanitarian relief organization, said in a statement that the group has already put about 100 medical and logistical workers in place in Ukraine, Poland, Romania and Moldova. He said more help was forthcoming to the areas.
The underground field hospital, which will have 58 beds and two operating rooms, will begin accepting patients this week.
According to the Roys Report, Israel also said it had dispatched an emergency field hospital in Ukraine near Lviv.
Lviv is about 40 miles from the Poland border and about 340 miles west of the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv.
Russian soldiers have been marching toward Kyiv from the east to capture the capital, and thousands have fled the city on trains and other means of transportation.
"It's chaos," Graham said. "When you have that many people, mostly women and children, it breaks your heart when you see what they're going through."
Previously, Graham said he was against sanctions on Russia, but this week he said that those restrictions are now needed.
"In this particular case, we need to put all the pressure we can to get this war to come to an end, and sanctions may help push it along," he said.
This week, the World Health Organization said that there have been at least 14 attacks on Ukrainian health care facilities. It said two more attacks were "possible."
Samaritan's Purse has already begun distributing water, food, hygiene products and winter clothes to refugees crossing the border.
More than 2 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. The exodus is being called Europe's largest refugee crisis of the 21st century and the worst since World War II.
A UNICEF spokesperson told NBC News this week that at least half of the refugees are women and children.
Related:
Hundreds of Russian Orthodox Clergy Call for End of Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Thousands Flee Ukraine Leading to 'Fastest-Growing Refugee Crisis in Europe since World War II'
Photo courtesy: Andriyko Podilnyk/Unsplash
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.