‘I lost it’

Tomsk resident spends three days disguised as doctor in coronavirus hospital ‘red zone’ to care for sick grandmother

A resident of the Russian city of Tomsk spent three days passing himself off as a doctor in order to sneak into a coronavirus hospital’s “red zone” and care for his grandmother, after she was hospitalized with pneumonia. The grandson claimed that medical workers weren’t treating or feeding the elderly woman, or changing her diapers. After being found out, the man tried to bring his grandmother’s case to the attention of local authorities, but no one answered his phone calls. He then decided to fly to Moscow, where he succeeded in getting the Attorney General’s Office to launch an inquiry.

The story of a Tomsk resident who spent three days disguised as a doctor in a coronavirus hospital’s “red zone” aired on the television channel TV2 on Wednesday, October 27. The man’s name hasn’t been disclosed.

His 84-year-old grandmother, who was hospitalized with pneumonia, has Alzheimer’s disease and is unable to walk or speak. According to her grandson, he’s been feeding wet food through a syringe for the past year.

The grandson began sneaking into Tomsk’s Infirmary No.2 after his grandmother’s hospital roommate informed him that the elderly woman wasn’t being fed. In order to get into the hospital undetected, the man dressed himself in a protective suit, gloves, and a respirator, and told hospital staff he was a physician from another department.

“When I entered the ward, my grandmother was covered in urine and feces. Her mouth was covered in vomit and the oxygen tube was on her forehead,” the man recalled. On the first day, he spent more than nine hours at the hospital, changing his grandmother’s diapers, making sure her temperature was taken and she was given medication to bring down her fever, and monitoring her condition. He spent the next two days continuing to change his grandmother’s diapers and dressings, adjusting her oxygen mask, and walking around the ward. He disposed of his protective suit after each visit to the hospital’s “red zone.”

On his third day in the coronavirus ward, the man decided to “deal with” one of the doctors after his grandmother was fed with a spoon instead of being given food through a syringe. “It was then that they suspected me, they asked what kind of doctor I was. I lost it. I went over to my grandmother, kissed her, and escaped through the second floor,” he said.

The grandson later tried phoning the hospital to get updates on his grandmother’s condition, but no one answered his calls. He was also unable to get through to the regional health department, his insurance company, and the Russian Investigative Committee’s hotline.

Unable to get help from the authorities in Tomsk, the man decided to buy a plane ticket, fly to Moscow, and personally register a complaint at the office of Investigative Committee Head Alexander Bastrykin. Once there, he was told his application would be reviewed within a month. He then turned to the Russian Attorney General’s Office, which promised to initiate a probe.

Commenting on the situation, the Tomsk Region’s Deputy Governor for Social Policy Alena Levko said that the regional health department and Rospotrebnadzor (the federal human wellbeing and consumer rights protection watchdog) should verify these reports and, if they are confirmed, hold the hospital’s management accountable. After a phone call from Moscow, regional prosecutors in Tomsk also launched a probe. The Investigative Committee and Roszdravnadzor (the federal healthcare watchdog) have initiated their own inquiries, as well.

Summary by Alexander Baklanov

Translation by Eilish Hart