Marat Akhmetov to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan: "Are we limiting ourselves to these two clinics?"

      Tatarstan lawmakers are worried: two war veterans’ hospitals may not cope with the influx of SMO participants when they return home

      Photo: Artem Dergunov

      “We expect a significant number of guys to return from the special military operation. What is our material base for their rehabilitation? Is this issue being worked out for the long term, taking into account the nature of the injuries, or are we limiting ourselves to the two existing clinics?” Vice‑Speaker of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Akhmetov asked the leadership of the Republic’s Ministry of Health pointedly today. Over three years since the start of the fighting, 22.3 thousand Tatarstan residents — participants in the SMO — have sought medical help, plus 3.5 thousand disabled war veterans, and so far medical institutions are coping. Complaints are isolated, but will the healthcare system be overwhelmed by a wave of dissatisfaction because of queues and difficult access to doctors — the republic’s parliamentarians tried to find out.

      Who holds the aggregate figures, the floor is theirs

      This year’s budget hearings in parliament shifted to an SMO agenda. What kind of medical care within the compulsory health insurance (OMS) system will SMO veterans be able to receive after returning home? How can critical situations be avoided during their rehabilitation? Although the special operation is not yet over, the parliamentarians still invited the leadership of the Republic of Tatarstan’s Ministry of Health to a joint meeting of the State Council’s Committee on Budget, Taxes and Finance and the expert council.

      Dinar Fatykhov / realnoevremya.ru

      “Three presenters at once — from the Ministry of Health, the Territorial Fund of Mandatory Medical Insurance… Who should speak first?” the head of the budget committee, Leonid Yakunin, asked, somewhat puzzled. “Usually your structures keep separate records, but we need the aggregate figures.” “Whoever has the aggregate figures, we’ll give the floor to them,” the deputies decided. In the end the choice fell on Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan Ildar Fatikhov. He had to answer painful questions concerning the rehabilitation of injured SMO veterans. For now there are few such people in the republic, but after the completion of the special operation their numbers will grow many times over.

      By referral from the Russian Ministry of Defense

      But at the moment the primary issue on the agenda is servicing active servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation who were wounded during hostilities, Deputy Minister of Health Ildar Fatikhov reported. They receive care at four medical centers in Kazan — the FGKU “354 VKG” of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Republican Clinical Hospital (RKB), City Clinical Hospital No. 7 named after Marat Sadykov, and the War Veterans’ Hospital. The total bed fund is 600 beds, which are occupied every day.

      “22,307 SMO participants received medical care in them from December 23, 2022 to October 15, 2025,” the deputy head of the Ministry of Health of the republic said.

      In addition, 3,464 veterans sought help for injuries, and another 1,085 people became disabled as a result of wounds.

      Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      In these same centers, recruits and active fighters undergo extended medical examinations (health is assessed by 10 specialized doctors). An examination of 1,956 people is scheduled by October 20, he clarified. In all cases medical care is provided by referral from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

      After demobilization — into the OMS system

      It’s a different matter when a combatant is demobilized from the ranks of the Armed Forces. Then they are granted the status of an SMO veteran, and they transition to the general “civilian” compulsory health insurance (OMS) system. However, they are placed on a special register, and clinics in their place of residence have designated responsible persons, Fatikhov clarified.

      Given the severity of wounds and complexity of conditions, professional medical care for demobilized personnel is provided only in two centers. These are the War Veterans’ Hospitals in Kazan and in Naberezhnye Chelny.

      Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      “Round‑the‑clock call centers operate on their basis to receive calls and requests from SMO participants, their relatives, and the social coordinators of the ‘Defenders of the Fatherland’ fund,” Fatikhov specified.

      The anchor institution for medical rehabilitation is City Clinical Hospital No. 7 named after Marat Sadykov, he added. In fact, it is within this circuit of two hospitals (the hospital and CCH No. 7) that the health of all those returning from the SMO zone will have to be restored. According to Ildar Fatikhov, 2,169 veterans and 3,000 of their family members have received medical care and rehabilitation in this circuit. Palliative care is provided to seven veterans.

      Two hospitals for all SMO veterans?

      This year, within the OMS program, a new section was introduced concerning the procedure for providing medical care to combat veterans, the head of the Territorial Fund of Mandatory Medical Insurance (TFOMS) Alsu Miftakhova said. Data on them are transmitted by the “Defenders of the Fatherland” fund. “As of October 1, information on 2,459 combat veterans had been transferred to the territorial fund,” she reported. Nearly two thousand of them used the OMS policy; they received medical care amounting to 53.4 million rubles. However, rehabilitation is lagging. According to Miftakhova, rehabilitation measures were carried out for only 3.9 million rubles.

      Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      “We expect a significant number of guys to return from the SMO. What is our material base for their rehabilitation? Is this being worked out for the future, given the nature of the injuries, or are we limiting ourselves to the two clinics we have?” Vice‑Speaker of the State Council Marat Akhmetov asked the leadership of the Ministry of Health of the republic.

      In his view, it is unlikely to be sufficient if treatment is confined to just the two hospitals and rehabilitation falls solely on City Clinical Hospital No. 7 named after Marat Sadykov. “They have the right to hope for increased attention,” the vice‑speaker noted.

      Those who have been through war are not used to complaining

      The vice‑speaker then asked whether there had been complaints about the quality of medical services, and if so, how many. The deputy minister of health did not have those figures at hand. But he assured that complaints were isolated. “There are indeed isolated cases,” admitted Alsu Miftakhova. “SMO veterans were dissatisfied with appointment waiting times, doctors’ explanations of diagnoses and treatment plans, the waiting time for and conduct of rehabilitation, and provision of medications.” In addition, 36% of respondents do not know the clinic medical worker who is supposed to help them obtain medical care.

      Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      “If complaints were received, they were dealt with within the day,” a representative of the “Defenders of the Fatherland” fund defended the clinics. “Yes, there are sometimes grievances, but they are addressed immediately on the day the veteran raises an issue, if something didn’t work out for them. That’s why the War Veterans’ Hospital takes on the bulk of the work,” she explained.

      In her view, the current scheme for treating SMO veterans is satisfactory. “Even if a veteran lives not in Kazan but elsewhere in the republic, he can at any time turn to the Chelny or Kazan hospital and receive the full range of specialists available at the War Veterans’ Hospital — in fact, the entire range of care practically in one day; it is organized at a high level and already worked out,” she is confident. According to her, there are no problems because the fund organizes transportation to the hospital. “As a rule, we form groups if veterans need to be brought from a district. We organize transport, bring them so it’s convenient to get there,” she explained. In short, there were no proposals to change or “expand” the SMO veterans’ medical care system.

      Luiza Ignatyeva