Omsk regional health minister dismissed over hospitals turning away ambulances with COVID-19 patients

Omsk Regional Governor Alexander Burkov has dismissed the head of the region’s health ministry, Irina Soldatova. He announced the dismissal in a video statement posted on his Instagram account on Thursday, November 5.

“This is a weighted decision, it was made as a result of an examination of the current state of the regional healthcare system and as a result of a Roszdravnadzor inquiry following the incident on October 27,” Burkov said.

On October 27, two ambulances brought COVID-19 patients to the regional health ministry building in Omsk, to protest the lack of available beds in the city’s hospitals. One team of paramedics said they had been driving an elderly patient with 80 percent lung damage around the city for more than 10 hours. Both patients were admitted to Omsk’s Emergency Hospital Number Two later that night.

During his statement, Governor Burkov emphasized that the authorities now have the main task of preventing the recurrence of such incidents.

Soldatova had been serving as the Omsk Region’s health minister since March 2020. Before coming to the Omsk Region, she worked for the Moscow Regional Health Ministry.