A new storm is blowing around a new hospital on Helgeland. In the region that has been referred to as the Northern Norway Balkans, the temperature has become so high that many fear that they are about to stick sticks in the wheels for themselves. On Thursday, the debate really flared up again. Then the director of Helse Nord proposed that an important cancer function should be added to the hospital in Sandnessjøen – and not to Mo i Rana – in 2024. This made Rana mayor Geir Waage (Labor Party) fire: – The consequence of such a decision is that Rana municipality’s involvement in the construction of the New Helgeland Hospital ceases with immediate effect. But it is not only in Rana that dissatisfaction is great. STANDS ON THE BACK LEGS: Geir Waage says he does not want to cooperate unless the bowel cancer surgery comes to Mo i Rana. Photo: Andreas Nilsen Trygstad / news – Can completely derail In Alstahaug, mayor Peter Talseth (Sp) fears new rematch around the distribution of the cancer function. – Rana must accept that the main hospital on Helgeland has been moved to Sandnessjøen. In Vefsn, it has been decided that the hospital in Mosjøen will be closed. FEARS OF MATCH: Peter Talseth (Sp) is mayor of Alstahaug. Photo: Ole-Christian Olsen / news And there the municipality is now threatening to leave the entire Helse Nord, in favor of Helse Midt. You might not think so when you look at what is planned to invest in the three towns on Helgeland: Sandnessjøen: 1.6 billion kroner Mo i Rana: 1 billion kroner Mosjøen: 500 million kroner In total, this means that the county council leader in Nordland , Tomas Norvoll (Labor Party) fears that the quarrel over the hospital offer on Helgeland will crack. – As the debate is now, I fear that the process can completely derail. CALLS FOR COOPERATION: County council leader Tomas Norvoll (Labor Party) believes that actors in the region have to cooperate. Photo: Bjørn Erik Rygg Lunde / news Fear of postponement Now the County Council leader calls for cooperation. – The alternative is that it is not built, or that Helgeland Hospital is not able to deliver all the services they are supposed to. Then there is a risk that a good part of the functions end up outside the region. – One has to realize that the whole region needs a decision. This decision must be respected in order for the region to have peace of mind to move forward, he believes. Ole Hope is project director at New Helgeland Hospital. He agrees the project risks being postponed. – The concept phase will be completed during the next six months, so it is an important period in the project, says Ole Hope, project director of New Helgeland Hospital. Photo: Silje Thalberg / news – On a general basis, I agree that the project is served calmly around important decision points, so that progress is maintained, he writes in an e-mail to news. Siri Gulliksen, who is the editor of Dagens Medisin and has followed the case closely for several years, believes that the conflict has tracked down a long time ago. – I fear the whole project will come to a standstill because it is not possible to cooperate across the regions. But how did you actually end up here? Two emergency hospitals In 2013, Helgeland Hospital will be tasked with starting work on the future structure for hospitals in the region. For several years, hearings, investigations and heated discussions have been going on. And in January 2020, the then Minister of Health Bent Høie (H) decided: There will be two emergency hospitals on Helgeland: One in Sandnessjøen (main hospital) and one in Mo i Rana. The hospital in Mosjøen will be closed down, but efforts will be made to build up an environment around drug and psychiatric treatment. In Sør-Helgeland, Brønnøysund has a new district medical center (DMS). Helgeland Hospital, ward Mo i Rana. Photo: Helgeland Hospital HF / Øyvind Bratt Bowel cancer case But just a week before Høies decided, a new pain came for Helgeland Hospital: the case of bowel cancer surgery. On 12 January 2020, Helgeland Hospital stopped these operations at the hospital in Sandnessjøen after a higher-than-normal mortality was revealed after the operations. The treatment on Helgeland was reported to the Norwegian Board of Health, which a year and a half later issued a devastating verdict on the health trust. In the meantime, the operations were moved to the hospital in Rana, before Helse Nord thought the internal disagreements became so great that this function was temporarily moved to Nordland Hospital in Bodø. And since then, there has been an intense tug-of-war between the hospitals to get this function back.
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New Helgeland Hospital may be postponed due to disagreements – news Nordland
