Oleg Shalaev detained for bribery amid past measles, corruption scandals

The end of last week was marked by the detention of Oleg Shalaev — the chief doctor of the Ryazan Regional Clinical Hospital (RCHB — Ed.). He is suspected of taking a bribe. According to investigators, the doctor for money (preliminarily, 300,000 rubles, or about $3,300 at current rates) informed a familiar entrepreneur about upcoming purchases and helped win auctions.

As it turns out, Oleg Shalaev had already been involved in loud scandals while serving as chief doctor of the Noyabrsk Central City Hospital. The YA62.RU editorial team looked into the conflicts of past years.

Noyabrsk is a city in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO). It is the second most populous settlement in the region (102,000 people).

Oleg Shalaev«s Loud Scandals

Oleg Shalaev headed the Noyabrsk Central City Hospital from 2016. During four years of work there, inspections were conducted several times, and one of the loudest was in the fall of 2018. In September, a measles outbreak was recorded in the city, three children fell ill, and because of this, unvaccinated schoolchildren and kindergarten pupils were suspended from classes. Parents did not like this and they filed a complaint with the prosecutor«s office.

Thus, the prosecutor«s office found that the Noyabrsk Central City Hospital was guilty of the measles outbreak.

«The central city hospital had information that a child who had arrived had contact with a measles patient, but no measures were taken to treat the baby separately from other patients,» said Tatyana Trubitsyna, senior assistant prosecutor of YaNAO.

Because of this, a third case of measles infection occurred in Noyabrsk. And the city hospital was fined 20,000 rubles (about $220 at current rates).

One of the last inspections was conducted by the YaNAO prosecutor«s office at the Noyabrsk Central City Hospital in December 2019. Then, violations in the procurement sphere were identified.

According to the district prosecutor«s office, two contracts were concluded for the repair of hospital premises. But the contractor did not perform the work.

«The acceptance commission of the institution [referring to Noyabrsk City Hospital] accepted the work as conforming to the contract and paid in full,» the YaNAO prosecutor«s office said.

Oleg Shalaev, as the chief doctor, was issued a submission to eliminate the violations.

«Help People Survive!»

The inspection in December 2019 was conducted, among other reasons, after pickets by local residents. One of the first to come out was Elmira Slyusarenko — her husband was given an incorrect diagnosis at Noyabrsk City Hospital and treated improperly, causing his death. This, according to her, was shown by three expert examinations.

The pickets took place more than once. And on several posters was the same inscription: «Help People Survive!».

Simultaneously, residents of Noyabrsk collected several hundred signatures demanding the removal from office of the city hospital«s chief doctor Oleg Shalaev.

«They didn»t do timely diagnostics for my illness. I lost my leg,« said local resident Viktor on the TV channel »Noyabrsk 24«.

A couple of days after the pickets, the press service of the Noyabrsk Central City Hospital responded that the management was ready to meet and discuss the problems. They also insisted that the problems of some outraged activists arose even before Oleg Shalaev«s arrival.

«Unfortunately, many problems related to your health arose a long time ago (for some of you more than 10 and 5 years ago). The new chief doctor — Shalaev Oleg Nikolaevich — has worked in Noyabrsk for only three years, and could in no way be guilty of those long-standing situations!» the press service stated.

After such a response, representatives of the city hospital began listing achievements under Oleg Shalaev: new equipment, training of medical staff, and attracting specialists from other regions. But the arguments of Noyabrsk residents convinced them of nothing.

«We»ve already come to you, thank you! It«s really scary to go there [to Noyabrsk Central City Hospital] now. Our city is small, we all know perfectly well what»s going on in Noyabrsk. If you don«t treat people, we»ll go with pickets to Moscow, we have nothing to lose. I personally endured for a long time. But I won«t allow the chief doctor to mock me!» wrote Viktoria Pelevina.

«And who to approach and where? Over many years, I»ve been to all the offices! If only it helped. I haven«t been able to get answers from personal receptions with the chief doctor, either orally or in writing, since summer,» added Alla Shepel.

«I have nothing against Shalaev as a person. I understand that changing the chief doctor won»t start making treatment better, treating patients more humanely, etc., but his position is such that he is responsible for his employees,« believes Elmira Slyusarenko.

Closer to winter, local media stopped writing about the complaints of Noyabrsk residents and Oleg Shalaev. The next time he came to attention was in December 2019 with violations in the procurement sphere.

Why Did Shalaev Leave Noyabrsk and What Is His Current Situation?

Shortly before the mass outrage of Noyabrsk residents, in May 2019, Oleg Shalaev ran as a deputy to the City Duma from «United Russia». But the chief doctor did not gain the required number of votes from people.

And almost a year after the pickets and the scandal with the repair procurement, Oleg Shalaev left the position of chief doctor of Noyabrsk Central District Hospital. Officially — due to the expiration of the employment contract. In 2021, he became chief doctor of Chekhov Hospital, and from August 2022 worked in Ryazan, where he was met with rapid career growth.

Currently, Oleg Shalaev is in a pre-trial detention center. The investigation continues.

There were no official statements about Shalaev«s dismissal, but YA62.RU journalists learned that the name of the chief doctor of the State Budgetary Institution of Ryazan Region »RCHB« disappeared from registration data as early as January 22 — a day before it became officially known about the criminal case. Currently, the institution is managed by Deputy Chief Doctor Andrey Markov.