Medical needs leave somber impression about Russia
By BILL BARTLEMAN - the PADUCAH SUN
Copyright - 1995, Paxton Media Group
Bill Bartleman has been a reporter for The Paducah Sun
since 1972 and has covered government and politics since
1975. The following contains his opinions and observations..
VYBORG, Russia - Hospitals in Russia are nothing like those in
the United States. The conditions are very primitive, patient care appears to be limited, and doctors are underpaid.
We went to a children's tuberculosis sanitarium in the remote village of Lebedevka, a children1s hospital in Vyborg and a hospital for cancer patients in Sovietski.
Here is a look at each of those hospitals.
It was about an hour1s drive from Vyborg to the sanitarium in Lebedevka. The hospital was located at the end of a narrow, winding road that was about three miles off the main highway.
The building looked deserted and old. There were no cars or people around. It was shocking to see the conditions inside. There were 109 children, ages 3 to 12, who slept in four large rooms. Each room had 30 to 40 beds that were no more than a foot apart.
The children were segregated by age only, with boys and girls sleeping in the same rooms.
The conditions we saw were reminders of sanitariums and orphanages in the United States during the Depression. Food was served out of large pots on metal plates. Lunch on this day was mashed potatoes, bread and gravy. No meat. We were told that was a typical meal. The same thing would be served for dinner.
One striking observation in walking through the hospital was that there were very few toys, no books and nothing to keep them entertained. We saw an old chess set, some checkers and a few other toys. The average 3-year-old in the United States probably has more toys than these 109 children combined.
The first group of children we met were the oldest, 9 to 12 years old. They looked just like normal American children. It was hard to tell that they were sick.
We gave them plastic Paducah pins that had been given to us by the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce and children1s Bibles that were printed in Russian. Russians enjoyed getting pins because the government has always rewarded citizens with medals for good deeds.
Mayor Gerry Montgomery provided some nice metal Paducah pins that we gave to teachers and other officials. When we told them they were gifts given out by our mayor to special visitors to Paducah, most were honored. The children and staff members were glad to see us because this hospital has very few visitors.
The Rev. Paul Blizard of Reidland Baptist Church did our speaking for us. He told the children why we were there, talked about the Bible and urged them to read it regularly. The Bibles we gave them included illustrations and children's stories. The children were excited to get gifts and have something they could call their own. Many of them clutched their Bibles tightly to their chests and listened intently as Paul talked to them.
Most members of the staff also wanted Bibles. It was obvious that they weren1t paid much and didn1t have much to call their own. Owning their own Bible would be a major possession for them.
We were told that we were the first group of outsiders to visit the hospital in more than a year. People are scared to visit because of the children have TB, which can be very contagious.
We weren1t concerned about the health problem and were confident that the Lord would take care of us. We also knew that if we did have a problem, we could take medication when we got back to the United States.
We met with three other groups of younger children. When we walked into one room, the children were getting undressed so they could take their afternoon nap. They didn't have any nightclothes and were preparing to sleep in their underwear.
They sat in chairs as Paul talked to them and told them about Jesus and the gifts we had for them. They were very attentive and well behaved.
When it came time to pray, most held their Bibles to their hearts, folded their hands and closed their eyes. It was a very moving sight.
The third and fourth groups were children age 3 to 7. They already were in their beds, getting ready to take their naps.
We were told that most of the children in the hospital were from very poor families. Some were abandoned by their parents because of their illness. Others were the sons and daughters of single parents who could not afford to keep them. When these children are ready to leave the hospital after three to six months of treatment, they would likely be sent to an orphanage.
It was sad to speculate on the future of these children. Many would not live to be adults and others faced a life of poverty and heartache. We prayed that the seeds we planted with the Bibles would provide encouragement and eternal happiness.
As we talked to the administrator, we were told the greatest need was fruit and juice for the children. She said the government stopped sending juice a few months earlier because they could not afford it. She said the nutrition from the fruit and juice was important in their recovery. We left a financial gift that probably will buy juice and fruit for three or four months.
We were very moved by what we saw. It was sad to see these children and their living conditions. You could see loneliness in their faces. But even so, most seemed happy and were smiling. They giggled at us because we talked so funny. None of these kids had ever seen or heard Americans.
At the hospital in Sovietski, we did not see any patients but met with 18 members of the hospital staff. Only a few nurses were taking care of patients.
Each of us told about ourselves, families, professions and about our lives as Christians. This was the first time that many of these professional people had talked to Christians or heard about Christianity.
Some of the questions revealed their lack of knowledge about religion. One woman knew nothing about prayer and wanted to know what it meant to pray. "Is it like meditation?" she asked. Another who asked a lot of questions was a doctor and second in command at the hospital. She told us that her salary, paid by the government, was $50 per month. She was a "family doctor" and it was her job to look at all of the patients brought into the hospital to diagnose their illness or injury.
The children's hospital in Vyborg was an old, three-story building. If it were in the United States, it would have been abandoned years ago.
When we walked in, we had to step over cables and wires that were in the hallway. There were no elevators and we had to walk to the third floor where we were to meet with patients.
The meeting was held in a hallway and about 35 children came out of their rooms and sat in chairs. The children did not have on bedclothes or hospital gowns. Some were wearing their own street clothes while others were in robes. We weren't told why these kids were in the hospital. This entire floor was staffed by about six nurses and aides.
We noticed a small cabinet in the main hallway that was the medicine cabinet. Syringes were laid out and contained the name of each patient. They were used several times and sometimes shared by patients.
Spoons also were neatly laid out on a shelf with each patient's name on it.
The hospital rooms were very small and had no medical equipment. Six to eight children slept in each room. There was barely enough room to walk between the beds.
We talked briefly with the children and gave them Bibles. Most were excited about having them and listened intently as we talked about the United States, our reason for being in Russia and about Jesus. Paul told them I was a reporter and that their pictures might be in an American newspaper. Most were excited, even though they would never see them.
After that meeting, we were asked to visit a 10-year-old on the first floor. We were told the boy was homeless and had been picked up by the police and brought to the hospital to be examined.
His mother was in prison for killing his father and there were no other family members to take care of him. He had been living alone on the streets for several months.
When we got to his room, he wasn1t there. One of our interpreters asked the nurse where he was. She didn't know and didn't seem concerned.
We searched the hospital and looked around outside to see if he had gone out for a cigarette. We couldn't find him.
We went back to the nurse and she assumed he had run away. She wasn1t worried, however. "Don1t worry, the police will probably find him and bring him back," she said.
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