Woman with Cancer Lands in ICU After Hours-Long Clinic Wait

An elderly patient undergoing chemotherapy was hospitalized in the intensive care unit after visiting Clinic No. 5 in the Kirovsky District of Volgograd. Her son-in-law, collector and public figure Sergei Ostrovsky, links the sudden deterioration in her health to the hours-long wait in line to see a doctor.

“She was receiving heavy chemotherapy and sat for several hours in the clinic. When asked why she didn«t call, she said she was afraid of punishment from the regular doctors. Now she»s in intensive care with severe pneumonia. They barely revived her at Hospital No. 25. We suspect she became infected precisely in that stuffy queue,” stated Sergei Ostrovsky.

The man is outraged by the logistics of care for cancer patients.

“Why does a person receiving treatment at an oncology center have to go to a therapist for a referral to an oncologist, and then wait in line to see a specialist to get chemotherapy prescribed? She lost precious hours of life that she could have spent with her four young grandchildren! We lost a huge amount of time in these queues!”

The head physician of Clinic No. 5, Olga Korsakova, explained the queue situation by citing the illness of one of the doctors.

“It«s simply an epidemic. The doctor also fell ill, so now we»re distributing patients to other doctors to process sick leave certificates. In the second shift, two doctors will see patients,” she said.

The Health Committee of the Volgograd Region clarified that the institution has three therapists: two are seeing patients, and one is handling sick leave paperwork. The department added that shift changes among specialists are possible according to the work schedule.

Previously, other residents of Volgograd had already complained about long queues at this same clinic.