Prime Minister Vladimir Putin toured the hospital buildings and listened carefully to the medical staff's wishes regarding the new equipment. The personnel revealed that they desperately needed a new ultrasound scanner, mammography unit, ECG machine, and dental office.

At the dentist's office, Putin took a dental drill and, laughing, asked Belgorod Region Governor Yevgeny Savchenko to sit down in the dentist's chair.

"Sit down, please. If you don't buy the new equipment, I will come back and treat everyone with this," he joked.

"I promise! I will," the governor responded.

"I know this man," Putin told the staff. "He always delivers on his promises."

The prime minister then visited the 25-bed in-patient unit, treatment rooms, and the outpatient clinic in another building. He presented flowers to a dentist, congratulating her on her birthday, and posed for a photo with the hospital staff.