Yekaterinburg Hospital Chief Searched After Wage Cut Complaints

Last week, investigators searched the apartment of the chief doctor of the 6th City Hospital, Robert Solovyov. His son Alexander was detained in a criminal case under Article 291.1 «Mediation in bribery».

But for the hospital staff, these events were just an occasion to recall everything that has been happening in the institution since October 2023 — since Robert Solovyov«s arrival from Kamensk-Uralsky. After the news of the searches, employees wrote a collective appeal to the Russian Ministry of Health, the Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Health, the prosecutor»s office, and the editorial office of E1.RU with complaints about the chief doctor.

What is known about the chief doctor of City Clinical Hospital No. 6

Robert Solovyov graduated from the military medical faculty of the Saratov State Medical Institute with a degree in «General Medicine,» the Ural State University of Economics with a degree in «National Economy,» and completed professional retraining at the «Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration» with a degree in «Master of Business Administration (MBA).»

He has the highest qualification category in the specialty «Healthcare Organization and Public Health.» He is a Candidate of Medical Sciences. In 2014, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Robert Vladimirovich was awarded the honorary title «Honored Healthcare Worker of the Russian Federation.» Robert Solovyov has extensive management experience.

The chief doctor of City Clinical Hospital No. 6 has not been involved in public scandals. In November 2018, when Robert Solovyov was head of the hospital, «AiF-Ural» wrote about an inspection at the medical institution. According to media reports, law enforcement agencies were studying the legality of issuing medical conclusions on which disability is assigned. Doubts were raised by documents issued by hospital ophthalmologists.

According to a source from the publication, inspections were conducted nationwide at that time against the backdrop of events in Dagestan, where the issuance of fake disability documents was put on stream. In December 2018, according to «AiF-Ural,» Robert Solovyov was on the verge of dismissal, and during personnel decisions, the head went on sick leave. After the New Year holidays in January 2019, he left his position, as «AiF-Ural» wrote, from mid-2018 he was in an acting capacity, since his employment contract ended in the summer.

The searches conducted in the chief doctor«s apartment in the case of his son were not commented on by City Clinical Hospital No. 6. The Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Health told E1.RU that it does not comment on the actions of law enforcement agencies.

Earlier, we reported that Alexander Solovyov was arrested and placed in a pre-trial detention center. According to the investigation, Alexander received a million rubles (approximately $11,000 at current rates) from the director of the company «MedicalTek» for help in winning a tender for the supply of an X-ray machine to the hospital in Kamensk-Uralsky, where Robert Solovyov previously worked. The chief doctor himself is not involved in the case. According to E1.RU, on Monday he went on vacation.

What employees are complaining about

Medics of City Clinical Hospital No. 6 in various positions complained to E1.RU about the deterioration of working conditions over the past six months. The interlocutors asked not to disclose their names and the departments where they work. Working conditions for employees in different departments vary, so salary slips and numbers could identify specific individuals.

Workers wrote a collective appeal listing all their complaints about the manager«s work and sent it on 26 January to the Ministry of Health of the Sverdlovsk Region, the Russian Ministry of Health, the General Prosecutor»s Office, and the economic crimes department. The message was delivered personally to the ministry«s office to ensure it wasn»t lost.

Salary reductions

«There were problems before, during Robert Vladimirovich»s work, many experienced medics left us. You can«t say a word against him, you can»t express any opinion different from his, they can just fire you. From Kamensk-Uralsky hospital, along with the chief, the head of the contract service and the deputy chief doctor for economic work came, who regularly threatens employees with dismissal and behaves rudely. But the main problems started last year when the ministry set the task of paying off the hospital«s accounts payable of 90 million rubles (approximately $1 million at current rates),» an employee said.

Accounts payable are the hospital«s obligations to partners and suppliers arising from untimely payment of bills or contracts. The cause can be both financial difficulties and systemic features of budget financing.

Another interlocutor said that in the hospital, since last summer, incentive payments for nurses, doctors, and orderlies began to be reduced. The reduction was gradual and uneven, for example, by 3,000 rubles one month, by 5,000 another, and it did not affect all departments.

«At first we didn»t realize that salaries were being reduced, because incentive payments depend on how many shifts you took, how many days you worked, whether you met the plan. In summer, many went on vacation, there were fewer patients, and we thought we were getting less money because of that. But then, when vacations ended, and we worked a full month — we saw a noticeable reduction, about 20% of the salary, for some even more. We asked the accounting department, they answered: everything is as before, nothing is reduced. We work as much, but get less,« shared another employee of City Clinical Hospital No. 6.

Employees said that from 1 October 2025, their salaries were supposed to be indexed, and they signed supplementary agreements. But the actual salary increase, according to medics, did not happen for everyone. Different departments have their own situations.

«Some employees had this amount added to their salary, but it was taken from the incentive part. Others had it added [just like that]. That is, the situation is different everywhere, we on the ground don»t have a full picture of how things are in other hospital departments,« shared one of the specialists.

The press service of City Clinical Hospital No. 6 neither confirmed nor denied information about salary reductions for different categories of employees.

«Target indicators for the average wage level set for 2025 for medical workers have been 100% fulfilled (doctors, middle and junior medical personnel),» the hospital told E1.RU.

The hospital did not provide specific figures or clarify what indicators are referred to. Possibly, it refers to target salary indicators in state hospitals based on May decrees: doctors should receive 200% of the regional average wage, and middle and junior personnel — 100%.

Position cuts

Employees said that since last summer, orderlies had their job title changed. Managers promised that only the name would change — instead of junior medical personnel, they became nurse assistants. In fact, the salary of non-medical personnel decreased.

«Currently, the reality is: their salary was about 50,000 rubles with shifts. Now they sometimes don»t even get 30,000 rubles. And they also work at night, change diapers for seriously ill patients, wash, and treat. Cleaners« salaries only reach the minimum wage (from 1 January 2026, the federal minimum wage in Russia is 27,093 rubles per month, about $301). Although they also work very hard, wash floors from morning to evening, take out trash. And now they announced that they are cutting positions for orderlies and cleaners, and already no one wants to work for these pennies, and they are cutting positions, so the workload on those remaining increases,» a medic said.

Doctors complain that due to low salaries, cleaners and orderlies quit, patient care and cleaning work falls on the remaining non-medical personnel, and nurses have to perform others« duties. Sometimes patients are changed by doctors themselves. This affects the quality of work in all departments, employees get very tired, and patients increasingly complain that trash wasn»t taken out on time, floors weren«t washed, diapers weren»t changed.

«They announced that they would cut positions for orderlies and cleaners after the January holidays, in some departments earlier, in others a bit later. When management found out that the collective sent an appeal to all authorities on 26 January, they slowed down, said they reconsidered everything and probably won»t cut non-medical personnel. How it will turn out in fact, we don«t know. Will there be any inspections at all, will the Ministry of Health somehow get involved in the solution or will our appeal with complaints just be sent to the chief, and we»ll get a formal reply in response,« shared an employee.

Employees of the 6th Hospital complained that in different departments, orderlies and cleaners are being cut, and this affects work quality. Managers calculated that by cutting positions, they could save money, citing accounts payable as the reason.

«They started with the most vulnerable, cleaners and orderlies already get very little for their work, and it»s very hard. In inpatient units, there are many bedridden patients who need to be washed, have their diapers changed, in some departments such patients are the majority. What will happen if they really cut as many orderlies and cleaners as announced, I can«t even imagine. Without an organizer, the hospital won»t collapse, but without an orderly — yes. I hope the collective appeal will somehow bring them to their senses. We want Minister Tatiana Savinova to come talk to us,« said another employee.

Shortage of medicines and supplies

Doctors and nurses said that, in addition to the listed problems, in the last six months, the hospital has had disruptions in medicine supplies. Some are in short supply, some are not available at all, although they should be.

«And what are we supposed to tell the patient — bring from home, buy it yourself? No, of course not. Why would we say that if it»s supposed to be free under compulsory health insurance? We lack drugs, and this situation is in different departments. There are also fewer supplies than needed. The chief doctor, economist, and purchaser cite accounts payable as the reason. I understand it«s a problem, but why is it solved at the expense of patients and medics?» a doctor expressed indignation.

Also, interlocutors told E1.RU that the hospital has problems with equipment repair, for example CT and MRI. It«s unknown in which buildings the machines are working and in which they aren»t, but when machines break down, according to employees, they aren«t repaired for months.

«CT hasn»t been working for a long time, probably several months, MRI also wasn«t working for some time. Due to accounts payable, there»s no money for equipment repair. This also complicates our work. And patients are getting more aggressive, swearing, shouting, getting indignant — they blame us. It«s morally draining because we do everything we can, work full force and love our job, so it»s doubly offensive,« a medic said.

Employees said that after sending their collective appeal, inspections have come to the hospital, but who exactly is inspecting and what the intermediate results are — is unknown.

The hospital says there is no shortage.

«Inpatient departments of City Clinical Hospital No. 6 are provided with medicines and supplies according to requests and actual needs. Overall, the situation is stable and under constant control of the medical institution»s administration,« the press service of City Clinical Hospital No. 6 reported.

Why the hospital is saving on everything

The editorial office of E1.RU spoke with various employees; some do not deny all the shortcomings of the hospital«s work but believe the chief doctor has no other choice. An interlocutor believes that paying off accounts payable without the Ministry of Health»s help and without losses in the quality of care is extremely difficult.

«I»m not defending this specific chief doctor. He has minuses in his work, his personnel decisions are unclear, he doesn«t particularly respect the collective and doctors, only listens to his assistants. But at least he knows how the hospital system works. He is disciplined. If someone without hospital management experience is put in charge, it»s not a fact that it won«t get worse. He was given the task — to pay off accounts payable. They said no money would be given for it. Where should the hospital get it if not start saving on everything?» shared the opinion of one of the employees.

A doctor explained that the hospital«s budget is distributed at the beginning of the year, and the price for buying medicines is set in advance for the whole year. It happens that a medicine increases in price, but the hospital budgeted a lower cost, the one before the increase. It turns out that the medical institution offers the amount budgeted at the beginning of the year, but no one is ready to supply the drug for that money, since it has increased in price.

«The truth — in the desire to save, everything must be weighed. For example, without some head of the organizational-methodological department with a high salary, the hospital can survive. Moreover, she»s a relative of some colleague. But without an orderly, it absolutely cannot, and this needs to be understood. But overall, despite the debt, they try to maintain medics« salaries. Of course, there are no bonuses, incentives are calculated differently, but that»s the situation. This chief doctor is at least involved in the hospital«s work, but there could be one who doesn»t even know how the hospital can survive,« expressed the opinion of a doctor.

In September last year, at the 24th Hospital, there were mass salary cuts, doctors say the reason is also accounts payable, the editorial office of E1.RU detailed this. About how orderlies were made into support managers with a salary of 10,000 rubles, we told here. The Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Health explained this by overstaffing.

In this material, we explained in detail why hospitals have plans for patients and how they affect their salaries. Also, together with federal experts, we analyzed why doctors are fleeing hospitals and how to stop them.

In 2024, employees of the Sverdlovsk Oncology Center also wrote a collective appeal demanding the dismissal of their chief doctor, who was then Boris Meilakh. The employees were not afraid and took this appeal to the minister, with signatures from all department heads. The medics presented all arguments, and they agreed — after a few months the chief doctor was dismissed. Five months later, a new chief doctor appeared at the oncology center — Evgeny Kiselev, who was the deputy chief doctor for medical affairs. The employees were happy with this decision.