Dynamics of the network of evacuation hospitals in Novosibirsk Region during the Great Patriotic War

Abstract

The subject of this research is the dynamics of the network of evacuation hospitals that were formed and operated in Novosibirsk Region. The relevance of this topic is substantiated. Analysis is conducted on the available information on this topic in the scientific and local literature. Leaning on the archival materials, the author traces the formation, displacement, and dissolution of evacuation hospitals located on the territory of Novosibirsk Region in its modern borders. Description is given to the fundamental changes in the network of evacuation hospitals: dynamics in the number of hospital beds, and specialization of the evacuation hospitals. The dependence of changes in the network of evacuation hospitals in the region on the role and place assigned by the highest military sanitary administration to homefront hospitals overall. The novelty of this work lies in determination of the key stages in the dynamics of the network of evacuation hospitals based on the detailed tracking of changes. The first stage (July – October 1941) is characterized by expansion of the network of evacuation hospitals due to the local formations. The second stage (October 1941 – April 1942) is associated with violent fluctuations, substantiated by the rapidly changing situation at the front and, and thus, transformation of the views of the military medical administration upon on the role and place of the homefront hospitals, including Novosibirsk Region. The third stage covers the period from April 1942 up until Victory, marking gradual stabilization of the network of evacuation hospitals in Novosibirsk Region. They filled their niche by rendering medical aid to the wounded with long treatment periods, which justified the evacuation of the wounded from the front to remote Siberian hospitals.