Flashback: Mayo Clinic in Moscow? It was once on the table.
When McDonald’s launched its first restaurant in Moscow in 1990, thousands of people waited in line outside for a chance to bite into their first Big Mac. For many in the USSR, the moment was bigger than burgers and fries — it represented the thawing of Cold War tensions with the West and an opportunity for a taste of American capitalism.
Fast forward 32 years later, however, and Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has left Moscow increasingly cut off from the rest of the world as countries, corporations, and cultural institutions announce economic sanctions, boycotts, and an end to business in Russia.
This week, McDonalds joined Starbucks and Coca-Cola as the latest symbols of American culture to halt their activity in the country. In explaining the decision, the CEO of McDonald’s said the company could no longer ignore the “needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine.”
As the tension between Russia and the West continues to mount, it can be hard to imagine — particularly for those of us not old enough to remember the fall of the Soviet Union — a time when there was optimism about the relationship between Moscow and Washington.
But during the late 1980s to early ‘90s, in an era known as “glasnost,” the Soviet Union had begun to move in the direction of becoming a more open society, one that allowed democratic elections, a free press, and private investment. The nation also had its sights on adopting some of the best models of American ingenuity — and not just in fast-food.
As told in a recently-unearthed 2020 paper by Russian physician and scientist Dr. Igor N. Bokarev, Moscow had interest in importing one of the most prestigious names in medicine: the Mayo Clinic.
Bokarev, who first traveled to Rochester in the late 1970s on a four-month research grant, says the idea to open a Moscow location emerged in early 1991 — after he learned of Mayo’s recent expansions into Florida and Arizona. By that time, Bokarev had already developed personal relationships with several members of Mayo’s staff.
“Soon, a letter came from the president of the Mayo Clinic, in which he said that the clinic was ready to discuss our proposal, and suggested that [he and another physician] come to Rochester to discuss this issue,” writes Bokarev, according to a Google translation of the paper. (The writing also includes an overview of Mayo’s history and an account of Dr. Will J. Mayo’s 1914 visit to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he met with famed surgeon Sergey Fedorov.)
After the discussion, according to Bokarev’s account, Mayo considered the possibility of opening a branch in Moscow and appointed Dr. Michael B. O'Sullivan to head up the effort. O’Sullivan, a prominent Mayo physician who was the driving force behind Mayo Medical Laboratories, had traveled to the Soviet Union one year earlier on a humanitarian mission.
Things went well from the start, Bokarev recalls, but the idea ultimately fell apart once the Soviet government collapsed in late 1991. An attempt to resume the project was made two years later, he writes, but that effort failed after the man leading the initiative was killed.
Reached this week, Mayo historian Matthew Dacy confirmed that the Rochester-based medical center had discussions with Soviet representatives in the early ‘90s. However, he said conversations did not go past the exploratory phase, and that, to his knowledge, there was never a specific plan for Mayo to add a physical presence in Moscow.
“This was the era of glasnost, when Gorbachev [the former Soviet president] made a highly publicized visit to Minnesota (not to Mayo or Rochester),” Dacy said in an email. “Mayo leaders attended that meeting along with other state-level executives. Many concepts were floated at the time.”
We attempted to contact Bokarev for this article, but, given the times we are in, it’s hard to say whether our communication reached him.
While Mayo never went on to add a clinic in Moscow, it has since expanded its international presence with a clinic in central London and a hospital partnership in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Mayo also collaborates with a network of affiliated hospitals across the world, from Mexico to China to Saudi Arabia, as part of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.
Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.
Cover: Excerpt from Dr. Bokarev’s journal entry showing him, right, in front of the Mayo Brothers monument during a visit to Rochester
