On 23 and 24 September 2022, the MSF medical train evacuated 210 patients with psychiatric and neurological conditions from a hospital in Kharkiv city, eastern Ukraine. The patients were transferred to two facilities in Kyiv.

In early September, the patients had been in a facility right on the frontline in Kharkiv oblast. An evacuation process was underway when reportedly the facility was shelled, killing four medical staff and two patients. Later the patients were transferred to a hospital in Kharkiv city, increasing the number of patients in the hospital from 400 to over 1,000.  This led to extremely challenging conditions, with some patients having to sleep on the floor, with insufficient access to quality of care and hygiene. Transferring patients from hospitals right on frontlines is no guarantee of receiving adequate healthcare if the hospitals that receive them are overcrowded, particularly if patients have complex, chronic health needs. Evacuating patients to hospitals in the west of the country far away from frontlines can alleviate pressure on healthcare facilities.