The wife of a first guild merchant, Anna Ivanovna Gladkova, dedicated herself to the establishment of a city hospital for infectious patients in Kursk. In 1900, as part of the city's medical and sanitary organization plan, acting mayor A.V. Alekhin discussed with her the necessity of creating a hospital, especially for those affected by epidemics.

The new medical institution was to serve for the isolation of patients in case of mass illnesses and to prevent the spread of infections among the population. After careful consideration, Gladkova instructed Alekhin to develop a project costing 15,000 rubles, asking him to keep her name confidential. The medical and sanitary commission determined that at least 30,000 rubles would be needed and proposed to build a building with two isolated rooms. Gladkova agreed to allocate the necessary funds and commissioned architect S. Serebrovsky to develop the hospital plan. Her son, Ivan Pavlovich, actively participated in the project, although the estimate significantly exceeded 30,000 rubles.

The Kursk City Duma expressed deep gratitude to Gladkova and allocated a plot on Yamskaya Hill, near the Alexandrovsky House for the Poor. After Anna Ivanovna's death on March 26, 1901, Ivan Pavlovich completed the construction of the hospital. More than a year was spent on the interior equipment, and on March 14, 1904, the hospital was solemnly opened. The city administration proposed to install a portrait of Anna Ivanovna in the building and to grant Ivan Pavlovich the title of lifelong honorary trustee.

With the onset of the era of forgetting its own history, Gladkova's name was forgotten, and the hospital was named after the first People's Commissar of Health, Semashko. The burial place of Gladkova is unknown, but the infectious hospital remains her best memorial. It is time to pay tribute to Anna Ivanovna, the pride of our city, and to restore the hospital's name.