W. Jordan Medical Team Visits Russia

On the surface, West Jordan and its Russian sister city, Votkinsk, have many things in common — from Votkinsk’s size to the initial bond it formed because of the missile base there and the link to this Utah city.

But when it comes to medicine, there are both similarities and striking differences. Two Jordan Valley Hospital physicians and an emergency room nurse learned that during a recent “sister city health care exchange” to Votkinsk, which is 900 miles southeast of Moscow. And both communities could benefit from closer ties between the two, they say.

The trio — Dr. Barbara Dahl, an emergency room physician, Dr. Arlen K. Jarrett, an obstetrician and gynecologist, and nurse Lisa Price — were among a contingent that also included a physician from Tooele (and a tour of facilities in Tooele’s sister city Kambarka), among others. They didn’t go to provide care or show Votkinsk how to practice medicine, but rather to learn how they manage with fewer resources and what each city’s medical teams can offer the other.

Doctors there are well-trained and very skilled, but they have extremely limited access to modern equipment and technology. They have become geniuses at fixing appliances and simple devices, but can’t fake technology. And they have a hard time keeping up with worldwide medical breakthroughs because most medical literature has not been translated into Russian and the lack of computers limits instant access to the Internet. It’s not uncommon for a doctor to go to an Internet cafe to do research, the Utah team notes.

As many as 95 percent of the doctors are women. It is the doctors who provide most of the care, partly because equipment is so scarce. Price was startled to see how underutilized the nursing staff is. They don’t do a lot of patient monitoring.

In Votkinsk, everyone receives care because medicine is socialized. But it is stretched thin and there are limits to how much care one receives, part of it dependent on where you live. In the region, for instance, there is one cath lab. There would be two, but a motherboard blew out a couple of years ago and hasn’t been replaced. A dozen ambulances share a single glucometer. There are only two or three oxygen saturation measurers in the area. Such limitations affect both longevity and quality of life, Jarrett says.

Not all of the differences favor patients in America, says Jarrett. At a time when the on-site school nurse is a rarity in Utah, each school in Votkinsk has a pediatrician responsible for the students’ health.

The Utahns were taken with the country’s decision to pour new resources into women’s health issues, a field where technology fares better. One new women’s clinic provides everything from dental care to physical therapy and family practice doctors.

Votkinsk takes an intensive approach to prevention in the form of well-child care.

After a birth in Votkinsk, mom and baby stay in the hospital for two weeks. At home, a doctor visits several times the first month, then a little less often in coming months. Babies receive intensive, ongoing care and developmental evaluations. Vaccinations are highly valued, Dahl says.

“It is cost-effective to pour resources into the first year of a life,” she says.

Votkinsk has no emergency rooms; doctors make house calls in ambulances.

There’s a little wistfulness in their voices as Dahl and Jarrett note the Russian doctors do a lot more hands-on diagnosis.

The team identified ways West Jordan could actively help health care in Votkinsk: Doctors there want more teaching aids for child birth and cancer, like models of organs. They need glucose monitors and oxymeters, which are relatively cheap and would make a huge difference. They’d like to make translated medical information more readily available.

But they want something in return, too. They want Votkinsk doctors to visit the Wasatch Front and show Utahns the things they do best. A lot could be learned from their women’s’ clinic, Jarrett says.

Sister cities can be so much more than symbolic, says Jennifer Andelin, chairwoman of the West Jordan Sister City Foundation. They can help each other improve while fostering cultural understanding. “Sister cities are huge opportunities,” Andelin says.

E-mail: lois@desnews.com