Valery Kozhevnikov was born on June 30, 1962 in a family of doctors. His hometown is the capital of Belarus - Ulan-Ude. Received secondary education at a local school number 2.
Valery firmly decided to devote himself to saving lives, so after graduation he went to enter the Chita State Medical Institute. Kozhevnikov already showed leadership qualities during his studies and for the last two years he has served as the headman of the circle. The graduation took place in 1985, Valery received a specialist diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" and the qualification of "doctor".
The desire to achieve more prompted yesterday's student to enter graduate school. For training, he chose Rostov State University.
Invaluable internship experience
But Valery’s quiet career as a scientist and graduate school was not enough, he wanted to put his knowledge into practice, so in 1986 he decided to join the ambulance team.
As a graduate, an important stage awaited him - internship. After a few decades, in an interview, he will recall with a smile the experience gained and the priceless parting words of the leaders, including the head of the cardiology department, Galina Stepanovna.
Now the Minister regards the experience gained in the internship as a key source of practical skills, and the process itself as a “proficiency test”. “Internship was then a kind of pass to the profession, ” Kozhevnikov is uncompromising. “If you went through an internship, you could work as a doctor, if you didn't, you couldn't.”
During the work, Kozhevnikov Valery Veniaminovich gained experience in neurological, cardiology, resuscitation teams. Soon, his talent was appreciated, and he was offered the position of senior shift doctor.
Calling to be a doctor: first achievements and triumphs
In the early 90s, Valery Kozhevnikov became the acting head doctor, then - the head doctor. He gave this post for more than 10 years (until 2002).
Employees recall the period of Valery Veniaminovich’s leadership as efficient and competent: the control room was completely re-equipped, the number of special crews increased, ambulances and resuscitation vehicles were purchased.
In 1997, Valery Kozhevnikov was awarded the title “Honored Doctor of the Republic of Buryatia”.
Two years later, he becomes the President of the club of the ROTARI charity company, two years later - the director of the Territorial Center for Disaster Medicine of the Republic of Belarus.
Having received the status of “Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation”, Valery Veniaminovich was not going to stop personal and professional growth.
Scientific activity and doctoral degree
The first step in the field of a scientific career was the writing of a Ph.D. thesis, which was defended in 1990. The work highlighted current problems and shortcomings of medical care, suggested ways to optimize and improve it.
After courses at MMA named after Sechenov in 2004, he published his dissertation "Modern problems of optimizing medical care for the rural population", largely based on personal experience.
The next chapter in the biography of Valery Kozhevnikov was the defense of a doctoral dissertation under the scientific supervision of Dr. med. Sciences of Yulia Vasilievna Mikhailova. Among the main provisions of the thesis, topical issues on resource provision and restructuring of medical care were considered.
According to his recollections of the press secretary (and later - the deputy’s wife) Anastasia Mankheeva, the defense lasted more than two hours. The decision to award a doctorate was made unanimously.
Interesting fact
It is worth noting that Valery Veniaminovich is the only minister in the history of state structure of the Republic of Belarus who received a doctorate. In 2008, the scientific practice of Kozhevnikov was completed in the publication “Health care in Buryatia in persons: to the 85th anniversary of the health care of the Republic of Belarus”.
Political career
The desire to change the system, improve the conditions of service for medical institutions led to the fact that Kozhevnikov in 1998 decided to run for deputies of the city Council.
The attempt was repeated in 2002, when Valery presented the candidacy for the deputy of the People’s Khural of the Shishkovsky District. The forecasts were very successful, but for certain reasons, he changed his mind and refused to participate.
Upon completion of the election campaign, Kozhevnikov Valery received an offer to take the post of Minister of Health of the Republic of Belarus and already in August began to perform new duties.
Buryat medicine under the leadership of the Minister
In the first years of his work, the minister proved himself to be an active reformer of the medical system, in particular, special attention was paid to the quality of medical services in rural areas. The construction of an obstetric and pediatric building in the Kurumkansk Central District Hospital, the surgical building in Gusinoozersk was carried out, the hospital in Goryachinsk was reconstructed, and the psychiatric hospital in the village of Novaya Bryan in the Zaigraevsky district was repaired.
As of 2007, there were 28 medical institutions operating in the republic, including 18 hospitals, 4 outpatient clinics, and 6 sanatoriums. Of the 179 municipal hospitals, two-thirds were located in rural areas, in addition, there were paramedic points.
The Center of Oriental Medicine was actively financed, for the development and maintenance of which the Ministry of Health of the Republic sent an application to the Ministry of Health of Russia to organize a research institute of eastern medicine.
The lack of personnel has become another problem of medicine, but measures were taken to materially encourage health workers, they increased their salaries, a medical faculty was opened at the Buryat State University, and areas were redistributed. Field teams received ambulance transport; quotas for equipping treatment centers were increased.
In Ulan-Ude, on June 20, 2007, a meeting of representatives of Rospotrebnadzor with People's Deputy Gennady Onishchenko took place. At that time, he held the position of chief state sanitary doctor of the Russian Federation. During the council, questions of the introduction of the national project “Health” were raised, special attention was paid to the problem of vaccination and the prevention of AIDS.
Well-known TV presenter Nikolai Drozdov visited Ulan-Ude on July 27, 2010 as part of the World of Good charity. There are several photos of Valery Kozhevnikov with him. During the meeting, Drozdov presented the Minister with a miniature copy of the statue of an angel, a three-meter analogue of which was installed in the city by a charity. The host also handed over to Kozhevnikov the program of another charity project “Our Children are the Future of the Planet” and invited him to celebrate Moscow Day, in the framework of which the opening of a personalized star in honor of Valery Kozhevnikov was to take place.
Several events of recent years
In April 2015, Valery Kozhevnikov was part of the delegation that visited Mongolia with the aim of concluding partnership agreements between the republics in the field of healthcare.
In June 2015, on his initiative, the Relay of Goodness charity event was held, within the framework of which all interested head doctors donated 60 passes for low-income children to the Birch Camp.
In October 2015, Valery Veniaminovich became an honorary guest of the VII volleyball tournament in memory of Valery Kuchinsky, held under the slogan "A sound mind in a healthy body!"
In November 2015, the minister became a member of the organizing committee of the All-Russian Educational Forum "Theory and Practice of Anesthesia and Intensive Care in Obstetrics and Gynecology."
January 13, 2016 Kozhevnikov took part in the awarding of the best journalists for the past year.
On February 9, 2017, he joined a charity letter event at the local AIDS Center.
In July 2017, he became a member of the organizing committee of the interethnic congress "Baikal as a World Natural Heritage Site: 20 years later."
Today, Valery Veniaminovich as Minister continues to support the medical system of the Republic of Buryatia.
