The best method for treating and preventing many chronic diseases is staying at a health resort. One of the most famous resorts in the Republic of Kazakhstan is the Borovoe resort.

The Republican Rehabilitation Center "Burabay" is located in the very center of Borovoe, among numerous lakes, on an elevation covered with pine forest. The fame of the Borovoe resort area is created by the clean air, rich in resin and essential oils, which has a beneficial effect on the human body as a whole.

The history of the health resort begins in the early 19th century, when Omsk nobility, led by the governor-general of the city of Omsk, built summer cottages for recreation, which were later given for the treatment of tuberculosis patients. The Borovoe Sanatorium was organized in 1910, when Dr. Emelyanov began treating tuberculosis patients in a boarding house with 30 beds. Vacationers were recommended to breathe pine air and drink koumiss, which was delivered here from the nearest steppe auls. The opening of the sanatorium caused a sharp increase in the influx of patients to Borovoe. In 1913 alone, the number of vacationers exceeded 2,000 people, with patients coming not only from Siberia but also from European Russia. The village began to grow rapidly.

However, its development as a resort began in 1920. M.I. Kalinin signed a decree "On the nationalization of private dachas and sanatoriums." Borovoe was awarded the status of a national resort. In 1923, the People's Commissariat of Health, taking into account Borovoe's natural wealth and its grand future, took the resort under its direct supervision. By 1934, the sanatorium had 500 beds, then the number was increased to 750 beds, 250 of which operated year-round.

Borovoe, with its natural conditions and resort wealth, was to be used as the main resort base for serving the population of Central Kazakhstan, as well as adjacent areas of Siberia. Alongside the expansion of the network of sanatoriums for tuberculosis patients, the construction of general somatic sanatoriums for the treatment of patients with silicosis began. It was decided to treat patients with stomach diseases, musculoskeletal system disorders, and nervous system diseases with the therapeutic waters and mud of the May-Balyk and Balpash-sor lakes.

During the Great Patriotic War, the "elite" of Soviet science, prominent scientists and figures of the USSR Academy of Sciences, headed by Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky, were evacuated to Borovoe. These were scientists of world renown: N.F. Gamaleya, N.D. Zelinsky, I.I. Schmalhausen, L.S. Berg, M.I. Pevzner, Maxim Gorky's wife Maria Fedorova, and many others. Initially, it was planned to evacuate the academicians to Tomsk, but this decision was changed in favor of Borovoe. The first academicians and doctors of science, along with their families, arrived in the summer of 1941. In total, 160 academicians visited here. They continued to work on the problems that were a priority for them. V.I. Vernadsky prepared a fundamental work on the history of the earth in Borovoe, studied mineralogy issues, N.F. Gamaleya worked on topics of great importance for practical medicine: "Treatment of Malaria," "Influenza," B.M. Lyapunov completed a book on the ancient connections of Western and Slavic languages.

Many scientists were captivated by the wealth and beauty of our region and immediately after arriving began to study the nature of Borovoe. N.F. Gamaleya, having studied the natural conditions of the resort, prepared the work "Therapeutic Factors of Borovoe," besides actively treating the wounded and sick, L.S. Berg was engaged in the possibilities of acclimatizing carp in the reservoirs of the region, prepared a work on the topic "Climate of Borovoe," S.A. Zernov together with academician I.I. Schmalhausen studied the plankton of Borovoe lakes, A.A. Richter conducted work on the topic: "Medicinal Plants in the Conditions of Borovoe," V.I. Sukachev studied the local forests, and professor L.A. Ivanov - the water regime of pine and birch, common in this area. The I.M. Sechenov Central Scientific Research Institute was evacuated from Sevastopol to the Borovoe region, whose workers studied the climatic and balneological factors of the resort, provided qualified consultations to all hospitals and medical institutions of the Akmola region. Despite the difficulties of wartime, scientists in Borovoe could keep up with the latest events and scientific achievements in the country and abroad. Valuable literature and scientific periodicals necessary for the work of scientists were delivered to Borovoe by special train from Moscow. Thus, a huge library was assembled, with a collection of 70,000 books. Many academicians donated books with their autographs to the Borovoe resort library when they left, and some books are stored in the library fund of the "Burabay" Rehabilitation Center, being the pride and priceless relic of our organization.

Not all academicians and their family members returned to Moscow. Many of them were of advanced age and passed away on Kazakhstani soil: academicians F.I. Shcherbatsky, M.A. Ilyinsky, B.M. Lyapunov, V.I. Vernadsky's wife. Vladimir Ivanovich himself lived in Borovoe until 1943.

Over 100 years, a huge number of employees have worked at the "Borovoe" Sanatorium, many of whom are now retired. Their work brought fame to the sanatorium during WWII and in the post-war period. In 2008, the "Borovoe" Sanatorium was renamed the "Karagay" Rehabilitation Center, in 2016 to the Republican Rehabilitation Center "Burabay," and in 2022 the Institute of Balneology and Medical Rehabilitation was formed on its basis under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

At present, the Institute of Balneology and Medical Rehabilitation of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan safeguards people's health, continuing and multiplying the glorious traditions of its institution, fulfilling the noble task of increasing the country's main capital - the health of the people!