Tatarstan Seeks to Keep Doctors Amid Shortage of About 2,500 Physicians

Tatarstan's health system is about 2,500 doctors short, officials said, with nine districts in critical condition. In three districts, hospitals are staffed with fewer than half the required doctors. The figures were presented at a weekly meeting chaired by Tatarstan's head, Rustam Minnikhanov, where 19,460 doctors were noted as currently working in the system.

Bugulma district head Damir Fattakhov said the district central hospital is 47 percent staffed, with 164 specialists missing. Over the past decade the hospital took in 173 doctors but lost 222, with the largest departures in 2020 to 2022 during the pandemic. Officials plan to renovate the hospital, use 72 apartments as service housing, and support doctors with rent compensation.

Health Minister Almir Abashev said newly graduated medics in Kazan were assigned to understaffed facilities, and Alabuga's doctor staffing rose from 53 to 70.1 percent in one year. Minnikhanov stressed that doctors should settle down locally rather than leave. Specialists who move to Tatarstan from other regions or abroad receive 1 million rubles, and 204 people are currently in the program.