Charitable Women's Hospital ousted in Dagestan

From the start of this year, the Charitable Women's Hospital, located in Makhachkala at No. 3 Ermoshkina Street, was to abandon all the occupied premises, as prescribed by the decision of the Arbitration Court of Dagestan signed by Judge R. Khanbekov.

For non-fulfilment of the decision to move out by the established deadline, the hospital was fined by 5,000 roubles by the service of court marshals. However, the hospital does not have even this sum of money. Practically all the doctors who work for the hospital help patients free of charge; the latter also pay nothing for the rendered services.

Now the future of the expensive medical equipment installed in hospital is under question. The personnel are afraid that it will be confiscated by court marshals and sold out as payment of the fine and for the storage services.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by the personnel that they wait for the arrival of court marshals from day to day. Aishat Magomedova, Director of the Hospital, is in a grave condition in one of Moscow hospitals. Her colleagues told the correspondent that she had a nervous failure and aggravation of various diseases after the persecutions on the hospital, undertaken by Dagestan Ministries of Property and Land Relations and of Public Health.

Currently, the hospital was disconnected, for unknown reasons, from telephone network and central heating.

Arsen Guseinov, an official of the Agency for Managing State-Owned Property of Dagestan, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent: "No other premises will be provided to the hospital instead of the ones to be abandoned."

"My close friend works voluntarily for the Charitable Hospital," a lady doctor of one of Makhachkala hospitals told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "After her main work she helps sick women at the Hospital free of charge. What can be better and godlier? The Ministry of Public Health hates the Charitable Hospital. Look in what condition the tubercular hospital is, which was headed by Ilyas Mamaev, current Minister of Public Health of Dagestan? People fear to get in, everything is ruined and the floor got rotten, although huge money was allotted on repairs."

Khalimat Efendieva, an obstetrician of the Charitable Hospital told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the hospital is very popular among rural women. "We help them absolutely free of charge," said Ms Efendieva. "Many state-owned hospitals lack the equipment that we have there. Women come to us with their problems from distant mountain regions; what should they do now?"