Three Horsemen of Disaster: How Kuzbass Ministers' Reforms Ruined Healthcare

Former health minister Dmitry Beglov, through his work, not only landed himself in a pre-trial detention center but also, in the opinion of many, brought the industry to collapse. But in fact, the first controversial reforms began before him. The editorial board of NGS42.RU analyzed how exactly the region«s medicine changed under the management of different leaders.

What Was Before…

We found data on the number of hospitals, clinics, and medical personnel in the official annual reports of Kemerovo Statistics. Open access has statistics from 2005. At that time, Kuzbass had 126 state hospitals and 26.8 thousand beds. For every 10 thousand people, there were almost 103.2 places in inpatient facilities.

The region had 382 clinics, and in one shift they could accommodate up to 62 thousand people. About 11.6 thousand doctors worked in the healthcare system, and 26.3 thousand mid-level medical personnel. Furthermore, the region had 28 ambulance stations.

For women giving birth, there were 1,607 beds, and for sick children — 4,454.

Elena Malysheva

In 2018, Elena Malysheva took the post of deputy governor for healthcare (such a position existed at the time — Ed.). Before that, she worked in the Russian Railways system, where she successfully reorganized more than 50 medical facilities. Residents of Tayga are seeing something similar now, where authorities are trying to close the only inpatient hospital in the area.

During her not very long tenure, she managed to do a lot, and all these changes are hard to call good. It was under Malysheva that maternity hospital closures began in Kuzbass, and a unified procurement system was introduced, which is linked to rising drug prices.

She also introduced the practice of merging medical institutions for cost-saving reasons. Because of these reforms, residents of small villages and settlements are now forced to travel to Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk, where more or less specialized doctors remain.

Mikhail Malin

The position of minister was introduced into Kuzbass healthcare by former governor Sergei Tsivilev. And the first one, in early 2019, was Mikhail Malin. He worked in his position for three years, successfully continuing Malysheva«s reforms, and left the post of his own accord.

By the end of his first year in office, due to mergers and consolidations, the number of medical organizations in Kuzbass had greatly decreased — 77 hospitals remained. However, the capacity was almost unchanged: 21 thousand hospital beds. For every 10 thousand people, there were 90.6 inpatient places.

The number of clinics in the region barely changed — 398, and in one shift they saw 63 thousand patients.

The number of places for women and children in medical institutions was significantly reduced — in 2019, 1,033 beds were ready to accept pregnant women and women giving birth, and 3,817 beds were available for minors.

9 thousand doctors worked in the region, and 21.4 thousand mid-level medical personnel. There were still 28 ambulance stations.

Dmitry Beglov

Dmitry Beglov continued to cut and optimize everything. He took the post in spring 2022 thanks to his patron Mikhail Likstanov. The former is now in a pre-trial detention center, the latter — is hiding abroad and is unlikely to return to Siberia.

By the end of that year, only 70 hospitals were operating in the region, and the number of beds decreased by a thousand — to 20.1 thousand. For every 10 thousand patients, there were 93 places.

There were even more clinics — 415, and they could see 78.5 thousand people per shift.

Pregnant women and women giving birth were accommodated in 872 beds, their number having fallen by more than 150 over three years. There were more beds for treating children — 4.2 thousand.

8.3 thousand doctors worked in Kuzbass, and 19 thousand mid-level medical personnel. This year, the number of ambulance stations also changed for the first time — to 27.

Andrey Tarasov

In spring 2025, after three years of leadership, Beglov was arrested on suspicion of large-scale bribery. A new head of healthcare was appointed in his place — Andrey Tarasov.

The industry was handed over to him in not the best condition. According to the results for 2024, Kuzbass had 62 hospitals and 18.2 thousand beds.

The number of clinics is 400, which see 62.5 thousand residents per shift.

Meanwhile, for pregnant women and women giving birth, there were fewer than a thousand beds left — only 647. Places for children also decreased to 3.9 thousand.

8.2 thousand doctors work in the region, and 23.8 thousand mid-level medical personnel. Also, there are 26 ambulance stations operating in the region.

In Total:

To understand how the sector changed under the influence of the reforms of the three leaders, let«s now compare data from 2018 to 2024.

Over seven years, Kuzbass healthcare lost 56 hospitals, 3,100 beds, five clinics, 403 places for pregnant women and women giving birth, 100 for children, 1,100 doctors, and three ambulance stations. And in return, it gained 1,100 mid-level medical personnel, dozens of criminal cases, and a heap of problems.

Earlier we analyzed how the quality of obstetric care in Kuzbass has changed over the last 20 years. Thus, the region has seen a reduction not only in the number of maternity hospitals and bed spaces but also in obstetrician-gynecologists.