In most 20th century wars, civilian hospitals were off-limits to attacking forces. The Geneva Convention formalized this protocol in 1949: there should be no "obstacle to the humanitarian activities" and the wounded and sick "shall be respected and protected in all circumstances." Article 19 demands that hospitals and mobile medical facilities may under no circumstances be attacked.

Yet rogue states have begun to disregard this mandate. Russia launched repeated civilian assaults, including the bombing of a pediatric and maternity hospital in Mariupol.

Northwell’s Center for Global Health was established to assist medical providers wherever healthcare is under siege, and it has been doing so for 5 years now. Our brief for this film was to tell this story in direct, human terms: to establish both Russia’s deliberate attack on some of the most vulnerable people in Ukraine, and support critical efforts to counteract and shore up Ukraine’s struggling healthcare heroes.

Since February 2022, Russia has destroyed over 200 healthcare facilities in Ukraine, including maternity hospitals and pediatric wards. To spread awareness of this devastating aspect of Russia’s aggression, Northwell, the largest healthcare system in NYS, created “Two Wars,” a documentary about the healthcare crisis in the war-torn region.

“Two Wars”, set in Lviv Regional Children’s Specialized Clinical Hospital, centers on the experiences of Dr. Natalia Fedyk, a pediatric hematologist who has to manage a distressing influx of patients who need urgent care due to Russia’s assault on other facilities. These children have complex medical issues that require uninterrupted treatment, a challenge in the conflict zone.

In response, Northwell adapted its Center for Global Health’s telehealth capabilities to assist Ukraine’s frontline healthcare workers. Within weeks, Northwell built a countrywide telemedicine support system to reach Ukraine’s besieged medical staff, and further mobilized supplies and personnel to send directly to the region.

This was an unusual effort from the start: not a marketing campaign in the traditional sense; nor a straightforward reputational gambit. We saw what Northwell’s purpose-driven commitment could accomplish. We saw Ukraine’s need for assistance and wanted to spread the word. Most of all, we wanted to tell the story of “healthcare terrorism”, not just for the sake of accountability and support in this war, but to establish a name and framework for understanding this emergent dimension of war in the 21st century.

So yes, Northwell was able to raise over $382K in donations for Ukraine, matched with $175K contributed directly by Northwell, plus $1MM in additional supplies and aid of various kids. While we are proud of that effort in terms of delivering direct aid when it was needed, we hope this film is the beginning of a wider conversation about the deliberate targeting of healthcare in modern warfare.