The matter in summary: Politicians and the municipal chief medical officer in Kautokeino demand three hospitals in Finnmark, despite the fact that Helse Nord is struggling with recruitment and wants to close more emergency services in northern Norway. Local politician Klemet Erland Hætta believes that 3 billion for a hospital in Alta is a pittance compared to Follobanen, which has cost 37 billion. Difficult weather conditions and long distances make it challenging for patients to reach the hospitals. The road to the hospital in Vest-Finnmark was recently blocked due to an avalanche. Municipal superintendent Anne Laila Kalstad emphasizes that every second counts in emergency cases, and that the uncertainty surrounding weather and road conditions takes up precious time. Chief committee leader for health in Alta municipality, Trine Noodt, supports the demand for more hospitals and compares the situation to the protests from Narvik and Lofoten. Mayor of Porsanger municipality, Jo Inge Hesjevik, expresses doubts that three hospitals in Finnmark are feasible, and believes it is about more than money. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It is terrible that you have to depend on the weather for a hospital to function. It is simply a scandal, says Klemet Erland Hætta. He is a local politician in Kautokeino, has previously been mayor of the municipality, and sits as 2nd deputy in the Storting for Patient Focus. He has not given up the fight for a hospital in Alta. And that even though Helse Nord is struggling with recruitment and has had plans to close emergency services in Northern Norway. – 3 billion for a hospital in Alta is a pittance compared to Follobanen, which has so far cost 37 billion. This is so that some commuters can save 11 minutes to and from work, he says. Road over the mountain closed Kautokeino municipality is 270 kilometers away from Hammerfest Hospital, which is the local hospital for the population of West Finnmark. Between Kautokeino and Alta it is 130 kilometers. Hammerfest is on the coast of Finnmark, and to get there from Alta you have to pass the Sennalandet mountain pass. If you come from Porsanger, Karasjok, Nordkapp or Måsøy, you drive over the Hatter mountain range. Alta is the most populous municipality in Finnmark, with 21,600 inhabitants. Hammerfest municipality has 11,300 inhabitants. Before a new hospital was to be built in Hammerfest, there was a demand from both people and politicians in Alta and Kautokeino that the multibillion dollar investment should be assessed. Was it right that the hospital for people in Western Finnmark should be located in Hammerfest, was the question many asked. Without an impact assessment and with a deficit of 100 million annually, Finnmark Hospital was allowed to start construction in 2019. In 2024, the new 2.3 billion hospital will be ready. But now the demand for three hospitals is raised again. Several believe it is unsustainable that the hospital for the entire population of the western county is located at the far end of the Finnmark coast. Often behind winter closed roads. The Sennalandet in particular is weather-hardy. Statistics from the National Roads Administration in 2019/2020 showed that the mountain was closed 48 times as of 3 April 2020. On average, the mountain pass is closed 29 times each winter. Last week there was also an avalanche right before you drive into Hammerfest town. As a result, the road to the hospital in Vest-Finnmark was blocked. On the coast of Finnmark, it is very windy and frequent. At the airport in Hammerfest, landing conditions are difficult, due to the proximity to a mountainside. This was confirmed by communications advisor Elin Åsbakk Lind in the Air Ambulance Service to Altaposten in 2023. The maximum wind speed for landing with an ambulance helicopter is 13 meters per second. Air ambulance plane takes off from Hammerfest. But the wind cannot be more than 13 m/s because then the mountainside becomes a problem. Archive photo Photo: Jan Harald Tomassen / news – Always a point of uncertainty Anne Laila Kalstad is the municipal chief physician in Kautokeino. She says that every second counts when it comes to emergency cases. Checking weather and road reports steals precious time. – We always have the element of uncertainty that we don’t know if our ambulances can drive. We must also factor in the calculation that it is not certain that the ambulance planes can land in Hammerfest, says Kalstad. The municipal superintendent in Kautokeino, Anne Laila Kalstad, thinks it is difficult to send patients 30 miles one way to get to hospital. Photo: Gyda Hesla / news She would have liked an emergency service closer. – I support a hospital in Alta. Our population is very far from emergency medical preparedness. Close to 30 miles one way is a long way when it comes to women giving birth and patients who are unwell, says Kalstad. It is also demanding in cases where the patients are going to scheduled examinations at the hospital. – Many have to get up in the middle of the night to make the appointment at the hospital. The trip is in itself a burden, she says. Kalstad says that she knows from experience that many patients choose to drop examinations they have been summoned to, because it becomes too cumbersome to travel. Same as in Narvik – Working for three hospitals in Finnmark is the only right thing, says chief committee leader for health in Alta municipality, Trine Noodt. The left-wing politician has great understanding of the protests that have come from Narvik and Lofoten. There, Helse Nord has been determined to cut the emergency medical services. This as part of a larger restructuring process. On Tuesday this week, however, it became known that the Minister of Health and Care is protecting the offers. – We are in exactly the same situation. Only that we don’t have that emergency hospital. All the arguments they have had that they are afraid of losing it, we have to get it, says Noodt. Head of the health committee in Alta municipality, Trine Noodt, believes the State must look up the costs of running health in Finnmark. Photo: Lena Marja Myrskog / news Jo Inge Hesjevik is the mayor of Porsanger municipality. From the municipal center Lakselv it is 140 kilometers to Hammerfest, the same distance as it is from Alta to Hammerfest. The right-wing mayor does not want to interfere in a new hospital debate. He nevertheless says that he doubts that three hospitals in Finnmark are feasible. And it’s not about money. – I am afraid that there will not be enough patients, so that you will have a fragmented professional environment, he says. Mayor of Porsanger Jo Inge Hesjevik believes it will be difficult to get three hospitals in Finnmark. Photo: Jonas Løken Estenstad / news He adds that the most important thing for his municipality is that the ambulance service is good enough, both along the road and in the air. That’s why they didn’t want to move the hospital In 2017, when Finnmark Hospital decided to build a new hospital in Hammerfest, these were the arguments for not moving the hospital to Alta: If the hospital is moved to Alta, more than 20,000 people, who today have the shortest route to Hammerfest, get a longer way to Alta. Overall, there will thus be no gain for the population of Western Finnmark, according to Helse Nord. Helse Nord believes that moving a hospital from one city to another would be a very risky project. The report from Oslo Economics, for example, does not adequately address the challenges of recruiting health personnel to a new hospital. It will require many specialists, and it is almost certain that the professional environment that has been built up in Hammerfest over the years will join a move to Alta, Helse Nord believes. Recruitment of health personnel is challenging in Finnmark, regardless of where, and according to Helse In Nord’s opinion, moving and building a new hospital in Western Finnmark is very risky. Helse Nord believes this risk is unwarranted to take. Closing down a hospital has consequences in a number of areas for a local community. These societal consequences are difficult to calculate, says Helse Nord. This is what the former director of Helse Nord, Kristian Iversen Fanghol, wrote to news in 2017. – Tunnel under Sennalandet Former Mayor of Hammerfest, now Storting politician, Marianne Sivertsen Næss, relates to a decision in the Finnmark Labor Party, which states that the service structure in Finnmark must be solid. – And that tasks and functions at Hammerfest Hospital, Kirkenes Hospital, DPS in Tana, Sámi Klinihkka and Klinikk Alta must be maintained and further developed. Storting politician Marianne Sivertsen Næss has previously been mayor of Hammerfest. She believes the hospital structure must be fixed. Photo: Allan Klo / news The Ap politician wants progress in the improvement of roads prone to landslides and avalanches. But Klemet Erland Hætta believes this does not solve the main challenge of getting to the hospital when the weather is bad. – I hear they are saying that they are going to build a tunnel in Rypefjord outside Hammerfest. In that case, they must put the soil under Sennalandet and Hatter in a tunnel as well, says Hætta. Saying no to a new hospital – It is not appropriate to establish a third hospital in Finnmark. This is what State Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Care, Karl Kristian Bekeng, writes in an e-mail to news. He says that health personnel are a scarce resource and that it is important to ensure the necessary recruitment for existing services in Helse Nord. Bekeng points out that NOK 25 million has been allocated in the state budget for 2024 for further development of the specialist health services at Klinikk Alta. – Special priority is given to measures to prevent unnecessary travel for the elderly and the chronically ill. Good cooperation solutions with the municipalities and a focus on geriatrics will be central. Karl Kristian Bekeng is State Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Care. Photo: Esten Borgos The response from the ministry does not bite Klemet Erland Hætta in Kautokeino. – Isn’t Alta’s hospital a losing battle? – The battle is never lost. A society is constantly developing, and the services must be developed in line with that, he says.
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Comparing the costs with the Follobanen – news Troms and Finnmark
