While visiting the Turner Institute, one of the oldest scientific and medical treatment facilities for children with musculoskeletal illnesses, Mr Putin inspected the institute's new therapeutic wing, which was completed ahead of schedule in 2009. More than 1.3 billion roubles was allocated for this project from the federal budget.
Mr Putin was shown operating rooms equipped with state-of-the-art equipment such as a laminar flow field (which uses air pressure to fully sterilise air in an operating area), a one-of-a-kind X-ray/operating room, and intensive care wards where younger patients can be together with their mothers.
In the radiodiagnosis department, Mr Putin familiarised himself with the operation of equipment that allows doctors to carry out tests that previously required anaesthesia.
Mr Putin also signed a resolution providing the Turner Institute with a separate rehabilitation wing in Pavlovsk, where children would be able to recuperate and keep up with their studies. The wing would also include a hotel.
Mr Putin met some of the patients at the Turner Institute's main facility and gave them toys. He also gave the Institute's director the necessary paperwork for an electric piano for the clinic.