Dr. Vladimir K. Volk
1897 - 1975
Dr. Vladimir K. Volk’s medical career spanned five decades and the entire world.
He was born on February 19, 1897 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. A medical student in his home city when World War I broke out, he volunteered to serve his country. He was wounded twice; the second time he lost a leg. The Russian Imperial Government awarded him the Cross of St. George. For the rest of his life, his handicap made him especially sensitive to the needs of others. Rehabilitation became a major goal in his life. With that thought firmly in his mind, he came to the United States in 1921, escaping the Russian Revolution. He received his doctor of medicine degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Boston, Massachusetts in 1926 and his doctor of public health degree from New York University’s Bellevue Medical School in 1927.
That same year, he became a naturalized American citizen and accepted a post as deputy director of the Oakland County Department of Health. In Oakland County, he helped organize Michigan’s first county health department in 1927.
He came to Saginaw as health commissioner for the County Department of Health in 1936, and continued as Saginaw’s Health Commissioner for nearly 32 years, retiring in 1968. He was director not only of the Health Department but Medical Superintendent of Saginaw County (now Health Source) Hospital. He turned the 90bed hospital into a 400-bed institution. Fittingly enough, the hospital’s three story rehabilitation unit, which had attracted national attention, was named in his honor.
With long time friend and colleague, Dr. Richard Mudd, he organized the Saginaw Public Health Association in 1948. The two also cooperated in the organization of the Saginaw Rehabilitation Society. His major professional interests were in the fields of public health, hospital administration, rehabilitation and the problems of the aged.
Special projects included a four-year study of immunization against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus; immunization research through grants from the National Institute of Health and participation in a public service study on the prevention of tuberculosis. His work earned him professional recognition as an authority on communicable diseases. A report on his findings was published in the American Journal of Hygiene.
Dr. Volk was a state and national leader in work on the problems of the aged, serving as a delegate to the White House Conferences on Aging in 1961 and 1971. He was director of a pilot project on day care rehabilitation through a public health service grant. He showed that the average hospitalization of an elderly person stricken with a chronic disease could be cut with proper rehabilitation from 1000 days to 159 days.
He won literally hundreds of citations and was honored by the American Public Health Association at least seven times. He was a member of 31 professional, medical and social organizations, including the Royal Society of London, the New York Academy of Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was a fellow of the American Public Health Association, the American, Michigan and Saginaw Medical Associations.
He was listed in the Directory of Medical Specialists, American Men of Medicine, Leaders of American Medicine, Who’s Who in the Midwest and American Men of Science. Dr. Volk undertook five foreign assignments for the U. S. State Department and the U. S. Public Health Service, travelling to Germany twice and to England, France and the Soviet Union. Dr. Volk died while on a trip to his Russian birthplace on August 4, 1975.
Speaking at his funeral, Dr. Richard Mudd said, “His ability to organize was an outstanding feature. He never spared himself in spite of his disability and was available at all hours, 7 days a week…and with all this, he never lacked time for his lovely wife Manusha and was devoted to his brothers and sister and was proud of his ancestry in Russia.”
Perhaps Dr. Mudd best summed up his far-seeing colleague when he remarked, “Regardless of how long Dr. Volk lived, his work would be unfinished…because he always looked to the future, as if there would be no end to his efforts.”
In 2010, its name changed to HealthSource. Dr. Volk’s hospital underwent a multi-million dollar expansion to serve the Saginaw area for years to come. It continues to grow and expand.