On Thursday, Minister of Health and Care Ingvild Kjerkol Kristiansund visited the closed maternity ward in Kristiansund, which is causing major political disruption. The Storting has decided that the department will be open until 2025, but the hospital is struggling to get hold of professionals. In 2019, the mayors of Nordmøre stood together in protest, when Helse Møre and Romsdal wanted to close down the maternity ward in Kristiansund. Now the tone has changed. Newspaper Tidens Krav mentioned this first. Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol promised to come up with a quick clarification on what will happen to the maternity ward in Kristiansund, when she was visiting. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news Incorrect use of energy The mayor of Tingvoll no longer believes it is realistic to open in the near future. – I think it is not right to spend energy recruiting on something that is so difficult. It is now important to spend time and energy on a maternity ward, says mayor Ingrid Waagen (Sp) Ingrid Waagen, mayor of Tingvoll (Sp) thinks it is right to spend energy on a maternity ward. Photo: Gunnar Sandvik She does not want to say the battle is lost, as it is still a political goal to open a maternity ward again. – In the long term, I hope so. There should be a maternity service in Nordmøre, but professional soundness surpasses everything else, says Waagen. – Professional soundness is most important. The Sunndals mayor says he has confidence in the management of Helse Møre og Romsdal, and believes they have done everything they can to get enough professionals. – I also have confidence that the Minister of Health will follow up on the Hurdals platform. So it must be so anyway, that professional propriety and the safety of both mothers and children must trump everything else, says Ståle Refstie (Ap) Knut Sjømæling (Sp) is the mayor of Gjemnes does not believe it is realistic to have open maternity wards in both Molde and Kristiansund. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news Must face the realities Mayor Knut Sjømæling (Sp) in Gjemnes only gets about a quarter of an hour to drive from his office to the upcoming hospital, which will be completed in 2025. – I see it as they have tried so intensively for such a long time, and it didn’t turn out very well, and then I see that you have to gather your strength for a common food supply for everyone, so that you get predictability for everyone. If you want to have an offer, it must be open five days a week, says Sjømæling. – I fully understand those who still believe in two equal birth offers, but it is terribly far away. One has to face the realities, says Sjømæling. The Storting has decided that the maternity ward in Kristiansund will remain open until the new community hospital is ready in 2025. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news The fight over Mayors Svein Roksvåg (Sp) in Smøla, Hanne Berit Brekken (Ap) in Aure and Kjell Neergaard in Kristiansund (Ap) is clear that the battle is not over. – The process that has been going on now, they have done a great job of getting professionals in place. It doesn’t take much to get the rest in place either, so that we get a stable supply of food in Nordmøre as well. Then I think they have to continue with that job, says Roksvåg. Ingrid Ovidie Rangønes, mayor of Averøy (Ap) says that for the municipalities in the far north of the county, distance to the maternity ward is important. Photo: Eirik Haukenes Not as optimistic Averøy mayor Ingrid Ovidie Rangønes has been a clear advocate for the maternity ward in Kristiansund and drives around with the Bunadsgeriljaen badge in the rear window. After yesterday’s meeting, she is not as optimistic as before. – I don’t know if I should use the word lost. But I see that someone is starting to go in for a landing, and I think I am starting to sense the contours of where it will land. Yesterday’s meeting confirms that there is a divide between the municipalities according to where we are in the landscape, says Rangønes. Hanne Berit Brekken, mayor of Aure (Ap), thinks it is sad that the North Moors are no longer united on the matter. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news Not joined in the case The residents of Gjemnes, Sunndal and Tingvoll will have a shorter journey to the community hospital that will be ready at Hjelset, 20 minutes north-east of Molde, in 2025. – As I understood it yesterday, it is those of us in northern Nordmøre who believe it is worth fighting for, but the further south you go in Nordmøre, the more you feel that the best thing is to keep the maternity ward open in Molde. So I notice that internally at Nordmøre we are no longer united on the matter. I find that sad, says Aure mayor Hanne Berit Brekken (Ap).
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Food support is cracking down on Nordmøre
