The head of the Kamchatka Ministry of Health officially took office

"Oleg Melnikov is our Kamchatka doctor, who has been working in the Ministry of Health for a long time. He has a lot of work ahead of him to solve the problems. Of course, support will be needed at the federal level," Vladimir Solodov noted at a press conference.

Melnikov graduated from the Khabarovsk State Medical Institute (now the Far Eastern State Medical University) as a general practitioner, then completed a clinical residency in surgery. From 2002 to 2014, he worked as a surgeon, and then as the head of the department at the Koryak District Hospital. For three years, he was deputy head physician at this medical institution. In 2017, he headed the district hospital.

He transferred to work at the regional Ministry of Health in 2021 - first, he was the head of the department for organizing the provision of medical care to the adult population and medical prevention, and in 2022 he took the post of deputy head of the department. In 2024, he began combining positions.

At the end of January 2025, Oleg Melnikov became the acting head of the Ministry of Health of the Kamchatka Territory, replacing Alexander Gashkov. The former head left his post amid an incident in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - there, 50 patients of the regional oncology dispensary were infected with hepatitis B and C. The source of infection occurred in the CT room. A criminal case was opened under the article on negligence. In March, it became known that Gashkov became the chief physician of the Rossiya sanatorium in Yessentuki. The institution is part of the NMIC of rehabilitation and balneology.