For years it has been a battle for the maternity ward in Kristiansund. The health authority has not been able to recruit enough professionals, and the department has largely been closed since February 2021. Kjersti Toppe received cheers and applause when she promised last summer that the maternity department would not be closed as long as the Center Party is in government. – We are not going into any government office and start by closing down the maternity ward in Kristiansund. It will never happen. I can promise you that, said Kjersti Toppe (Sp). The maternity department is the only one in the country with a parliamentary decision to remain open. Not giving up When Toppe was back in Kristiansund on Monday, a lot had happened. The Center Party is in government, Toppe has become Minister for Children and Families and Health Møre and Romsdal have decided that the maternity ward in the city will be moved to Molde. At the same time as she visited churches and looked after the health of children and young people, it became known that the lights at the maternity ward in Kristiansund will be switched off on Sunday at 3pm. The shutdown is contrary to what was first agreed in the cooperation agreement between the governing parties, the Hurdalsplattformen. – The government’s goal that there should be a maternity ward in Kristiansund is firm, says Toppe despite the fact that the employees are in the process of clearing out and closing the maternity ward. Kjersti Toppe is adamant that the Center Party will continue to ensure operations at the maternity ward in Kristiansund. Photo: Eirik Haukenes / news The Center Party in the Storting is behind Toppe’s move. – We are still working for stronger maternity services in Nordmøre and Romsdal and reopening of the maternity ward at Kristiansund hospital, says Hans Inge Myrvold, health policy spokesperson for the Center Party. Made the decision right after they got the go-ahead. When the proposal for the state budget came out on Thursday, the Minister of Health opened the door for the health authority itself to decide what was a professionally sound maternity service in Nordmøre. In a press release, the Ministry of Health and Social Care wrote that the government’s goal of a maternity ward in Kristiansund stands, and that the maternity ward will be reopened if a professionally sound offer comes into place. At the same time, it was established that Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) will not do anything active to ensure a reopening. Just a few hours after the press release came out, Helse Møre og Romsdal announced that they had given up on getting enough staff in place to reopen in Kristiansund. The birth and maternity wards will be gathered in Molde until the new joint hospital for Nordmøre and Romsdal is ready in 2025. Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol believes that the health enterprise fulfilled the government’s requirement for reopening when they stayed open for three weeks this summer. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news – Desperate situation There has been an internal tug-of-war in the government about what should happen to the maternity ward in Kristiansund. According to what news knows, the matter was raised to the highest level in the government, that is to say the prime minister and the finance minister, before the state budget came. Locally in Kristiansund, the Labor Party and the Center Party have agreed that the maternity allowance should continue, but the mayor of Kristiansund is not impressed by the Center Party. – They have stood in the election campaign and said that they will not enter government unless there is a maternity ward in Kristiansund. Now there is no maternity ward in Kristiansund, and then they will say that they have fulfilled the promise through the press release that was sent out, says Kjell Neergaard (Ap) and believes that they are now in a desperate situation. The Minister of Health will not comment on the matter and refers to the answer she gave last week. Kjell Neergaard calls for coherence between what the minister says, what the ministry says, and what actually happens in the company. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg Hopes that the Minister of Health says stop The Bunads guerrillas are not satisfied with the maternity ward being moved either. They are reacting to the fact that Helse Møre and Romsdal were in a hurry to close before the national budget was considered in the Storting. – There may be changes. We have an expectation that the Center Party will press for the Government’s policy to be followed up, says Ingrid Uthaug, chairman of the Bunadsgeriljaen. – Is it a breach of promise? – If this is allowed to stand, without protests, it is a breach of promise. We are still waiting for what the Center Party will do. We hope that the Minister of Health tells Health Møre and Romsdal that this was not the intention of the state budget, and that they cannot implement this. The Bunads guerrilla marked outside Kristiansund hospital when the health minister came to visit in August. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news Don’t believe in turnaround A political commentator in news believes that as long as the politicians do not want to override the health professional assessment of the company, the political signals and intentions are not that interesting. According to the commentator, it is formally correct that the government has not changed the policy, but the intention will not be carried out as long as the government does not intervene in the assessment made by the health authority. – I would like to believe that people are more interested in what is actually happening, than what the government writes in press releases, says Lars Nehru Sand. – When the politicians don’t dare to change the decision, the maternity service in Kristiansund is discontinued. That’s how things will be, says Nehru Sand. – It is absolutely necessary to make a clear decision. Health Møre and Romsdal feel betrayed by the Center Party, but insist that there must be enough professionals to keep the maternity ward open. – We have worked intensively with the recruitment of professionals since we closed the department in February 2021. We managed to open three weeks in June this year. Unfortunately, we did not have enough professionals to reopen after the summer, says managing director Øyvind Bakke. For the staff at the maternity wards in Molde and Kristiansund, it has long been an unsettled situation. – In my opinion, it was now absolutely necessary to make a clear decision and clarify this demanding situation, so that we get planned operation and resource use for the best for the entire health service offer in Nordmøre and Romsdal going forward, says Bakke. According to Øyvind Bakke, Helse Møre og Romsdal will continue to work with recruitment for the maternity services in Nordmøre and Romsdal, and the minister has asked the company to come back with a plan for how they can strengthen the services in Nordmøre. Photo: Roar Strøm
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The Center Party refuses to accept that the maternity ward in Kristiansund should be closed down
