Well-known Abaza doctor and honorary citizen of the city of Cherkessk, Alexey Khuranov died just a few months before his 90th birthday. On his birthday on December 5, the WAC web info portal publishes an essay about him.
Georgy Chekalov
On December 5, the first certified Abaza doctor Alexey Adamovich Khuranov would have turned 90 years old. He did not live only six months before his anniversary. But the time lived was enough to leave a good mark in the hearts of all whom he met in his life.
Among the achievements and titles of Khuranov are the Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, the People’s Doctor of the KChR, the Excellence in Public Health of the USSR - a significant part of his professional activities came during the Soviet years. Alexey Adamovich also is an honorary citizen of the city of Cherkessk.
Two homelands
Aleksey Khuranov was born in the village of Staro-Kuvinsk of the Cherkess Autonomous Region, but he turned out to be in Abkhazia as a child, where his family had gone, fearing persecution by the authorities. He grew up in the village of Duripsh.
It was here that he had a dream to become a doctor. According to him, this choice was largely promoted by the popularity of doctors working in the Gudauta district (Zverev, Lintrop, Uridia), and surgeons of the republican hospital (Shervashidze, Gasparyan, Shechtman, Petrov).
A certain emotional role in the choice of profession was played by one case in Duripsh. One day the neighbor of the Khuranovs fell ill, and Aleksey was sent to the medical center for a medical assistant, who was sent to the village the day before. But the paramedic could not come: he was simply drunk. The neighbor died in the morning.
Alexey Adamovich recalled this in the following way: "People cry in the house of the dead man, and I cannot calm down because they did not help the patient. Perhaps he could not have been saved. But the paramedic was obliged to try and do everything he could."
Alexey Khuranov returned to his first homeland in 1951 as a young specialist. Through all his life, he carried love in his heart both to his native village, to which he devoted the book "My Kuva", and to Duripsh, in which he grew up, to the whole of Abkhazia.
The hard way to a dream
Dreaming is wonderful, fulfilling a dream is worth a lot of work. Applicant Alexey Khuranov knew this in full. In 1944, having passed all the exams at the Krasnodar Medical Institute, he was forced to give way to the fighters, who were demobilized from the front by injury and who also decided to go to medical school: they had privileges on admission.
The second attempt in 1945 seemed to be successful - three "five" and "four" marks guaranteed the successful completion of the competition. But ... "We came to see the list of applicants, and instead of it on the doors of the institute there was the announcement that the institute is being transferred to Chisinau, and all applicants are asked to collect their documents," recalled Alexey Adamovich.
What a disappointment! Having returned home, the young man in despair writes letters to the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, to the Ministry of Higher Education. And - what a miracle! - receives replies to both letters. In one of them he was asked to choose for study any medical institute of the North Caucasus, the other sent him to Makhachkala. He decided to go to a specific address.
So in November 1945, Alexey Khuranov finds himself in the Dagestan Medical Institute, where he is credited with the condition that he will close the gap with the group that has been studying for two months before January 1. Loads were serious, health failed, and the freshman had to take academic leave. Only from September 1946, began his full student life.
And in the summer of 1951 he was awarded a long-awaited diploma with it a referral to work in the Circassian Autonomous Region.
Chief doctor at once
Aleksey Khuranov hoped that he would work as a surgeon in Cherkessk, but in the regional health department there were certain plans for a young specialist had. He was sent to his native Kuva district.
So he got to the Ersakon village. It is a district center by status, and in fact it was an ordinary Soviet village of the mid-twentieth century: no roads, no transport, no electricity. And the hospital was of the same kind: no laboratory, no X-ray, no specialists. The latter circumstance led to the unexpected appointment of Alexey Khuranov as the head physician of the hospital six weeks after his arrival. No one listened to the protests of the specialist who had expected to be transfered to work in Cherkessk in a maximum of six months.
But there was no time to indulge in despondency.
Alexey "rolled up his sleeves" and began to work. First of all he trained two laboratory technicians and organized simple tests at the hospital. Then he equipped the X-ray room. These two events already significantly increased the efficiency of diagnostic work and saved many patients from having to go to the regional center for minor issues. Soon the ambulance car appeared.
Further - more: the expansion of the hospital, the creation of a surgical department, the improvement of conditions for patients ... The Circassian regional and Stavropol regional health departments invited doctors to seminars in Ersakon, so that they could learn how to establish diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic work using the example of Kuvinians
Five and a half years spent in Ersakon became the period of professional development of the doctor Alexey Khuranov. In addition to the fact that the daily work of doctors was raised to a new level, in some cases, physicians demonstrated real work heroism, saving, it seemed, hopeless patients.
"Once, at the time of harvesting on the Kirov collective farm, a state of emergency occurred, Alexey Adamovich was telling. - During the filling of the truck a tank with gasoline exploded. The driver’s clothing caught fire. When he was brought to us, about 75% of the skin of the body had II degree burns, there were small areas with III degree burns.
All hospital staff took up the rescue of a person. A consultant invited from the regional hospital, after his examination, said hopelessly: "There are no miracles." But a miracle happened. Yura - that was the name of the driver - survived and still remembers his saviors with gratitude."
It is not the places that grace the men, but men the places
The second appointment of Alexey Adamovich turned out to be even more unexpected than the first one: he was offered to head the regional health department. More precisely, his candidacy was recommended for this position, and he could only agree. It happened in March 1957. Alexey Khuranov was only 28 years old at that moment.
A few months earlier, the Cherkess Autonomous Region was transformed into Karachay-Cherkess and Karachai began to return to their homelands (during the Second World War in 1943 they were deported to Kazakhstan and Central Asia, and in 1957 rehabilitated - ed.). Immediately it was necessary to take on the organization of work on the reception of the Karachai population. People returned from epidemiologically unfavorable regions of the country, respectively, the level of infectious morbidity was high. This problem had to be solved. Some services in the area had to be created from scratch, the existing ones were to be expanded and reequipped.
In short, there were many tasks, in contrast to the possibilities, which were very limited. Nevertheless, in all directions it was possible to achieve significant progress.
During the nine years of Khuranov’s work, 17 health facilities were commissioned in the region, several nurseries were built, and seven new services were created. Massive diseases of diphtheria, poliomyelitis, trachoma, brucellosis were eliminated, the level of infant mortality and the incidence of tuberculosis, hepatitis, and intestinal infections were significantly reduced. The number of doctors increased by 120 people.
The solution of many problems was hindered by the complexity of a subjective nature, namely, disagreements with the then party leadership of the region on certain fundamental issues. Alexey
Adamovich was able to defend his point of view based on the interests of the residents of the region, but he had to resign.
However, the experience and knowledge of Khuranov could not remain unclaimed. He was offered to head the polyclinic of the city of Cherkessk. By that time, it had already moved to a new typical building, designed for 400 visits per day. Alexey Adamovich managed to convince the city authorities of the need to solve the most important tasks that required considerable material resources. Modern medical equipment was acquired, the facility was staffed with doctors.
Then Khuranov brought order to the work of all departments, starting with the registry. The queues scattered. The time allotted for the reception of patients, has been used more efficiently. Attentive and friendly treatment of patients came instead of formal approach to patient care. Teaching young specialists, the head physician liked to repeat the words of the great Russian psychiatrist Vladimir Bekhterev:"If a patient doesn’t feel better after talking with the doctor than he’s not a doctor."
Alexey Khuranov headed the polyclinic for 36 years. Over the years, it has become a truly leading link in the city’s health care. This is a great merit of the head physician and the team he headed.
Restless heart
Care for people for Alexey Adamovich was not limited to taking care of their health while performing medical duties. His sympathetic soul did not give him peace if the person next to him needed help. This applied not only to individuals, but also to groups and nations. He was a deputy of several convocations of the Karachay-Cherkess Regional Council of People’s Deputies, the People’s Assembly (Parliament) of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, the Circassian City Duma. Khuranov was one of those who not only carried a deputy mandate, but used his powers: in Soviet times - to fulfill the orders of voters, in the post-Soviet - to solve topical issues facing the deputy corps.
Aleksey Adamovich Khuranov was one of the founders of the Abaza national public movement, was one of the active members of the public organization "Adgylara" ("Unity, now - the organization "Abaza" - ed.), and in the difficult for all of Karachay-Cherkessia year of 1999 (during the election of the head of the republic, a serious confrontation arose between the peoples of the republic - ed.) headed it.
During the 1992-1993 Patriotic War of the people of Abkhazia, Aleksey Khuranov took an active part in organizing the collection and shipment of humanitarian supplies from Karachay-Cherkessia to Abkhazia.
After gaining independence by Abkhazia, he was invited there for all significant events, and he, in spite of his age, attended them, considering it his duty. Aleksey Adamovich enjoyed great respect among the leaders of the Republic of Abkhazia and among the social activists.
Memory
Alexey Adamovich Khuranov lived a long life full of many affairs. Already aged, on the eve of his 85th birthday, he decided to put his life course on paper and published the book "It’s not easy to be a doctor". This book is about the activities of the first Abaza graduate doctor, who dedicated 50 years to his profession, and about the history of health care development in Karachay-Cherkessia. The publication recorded the names of many who have made a significant contribution to this process. Among them, of course, is the author himself.
Summing up the years he lived, he writes: "I am satisfied with life. My choice was not in vain."
Alexey Adamovich died on July 17, 2018. He left this world with a clear conscience and a pure soul.
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