The cheers were in the ceiling at the hospital in Lofoten and Narvik during Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol’s (Ap) hospital speech on Tuesday. Here, both emergency surgery and maternity services were at stake, before Kjerkol protected both services from the rostrum in Bergen. But none of the three hospitals in Helgeland were mentioned in one word. Here, several decades of hospital battles have earned the region the nickname “Northern Norway’s Balkans”. Now many fear that another battle is brewing. It is completely contrary to what Støre promised three years ago. Two were allowed to live, one was shut down In the autumn of 2020, Labor party leader Jonas Gahr Støre was on a political free trial in Helgeland. There he made a crystal clear promise: There would be no rematch over the hospital structure in Helgeland. The law came nine months after the then Minister of Health Bent Høie (H) had concluded a year-long battle about the hospitals: In January 2020, the then Minister of Health Bent Høie (H) decided that Helgeland should have two hospitals. Behind him is the chairman of Helse Nord, Renate Larsen. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / Stian Lysberg Solum There were to be hospitals in both Sandnessjøen and Mo i Rana. It also meant that the hospital in Mosjøen was to be closed down. With that, it was thought that a year-long hospital dispute had reached its final point. – Will get two of the world’s best hospitals That was also Støre’s impression nine months later. – There will be no rematch. Those who create infighting create unnecessary doubt and unrest among people. Here it is important to implement what has been decided. If it goes according to plan, the region will get two of the world’s best hospitals, Støre told iSandnessjøen. Historically, there have been three hospitals in Helgeland, but in January 2020 the then Minister of Health Bent Høie (H) decided that only Sandnessjøen and Mo i Rana should continue. He added: – Those who cast doubt on that take on a great responsibility – and it is not us, Støre concluded – one year before the red-greens won the election and he himself became prime minister. Since then, the Labor Party has taken over the government, Støre has become prime minister and Helse Nord ended up in a state of incapacity. Open for a rematch And when Kjerkol (Ap) last year tasked Helse Nord with assessing measures to put a checkered economy in order, no part of the operation was protected. Nor Helgeland, which received a hospital decision as late as 2020. In January 2020, it was decided that Sandnessjøen should have one of two hospitals in Helgeland. Photo: Helgelandssykehuset HF The situation was no less tense when Helse Nord director Marit Lind presented her vision for Helgeland. There she recommended that Helgeland should have one joint hospital – but without saying where it would be located. The second hospital on Helgeland was to be located in Mo i Rana. Photo: Helgelandssykehuset HF SMK refers to the Ministry of Health news has put questions to Støre through the Prime Minister’s office (SMK). They did not want to answer the question. – We ask you to contact the Ministry of Health and Care with this question. news has sent questions to SMK about why another ministry should answer for Støre’s promise from 2020, so far without receiving an answer. Maternity leave creates complete confusion Although Kjerkol did not mention Helgeland in his hospital speech on Tuesday, one wording in particular made the confusion complete: Because both Sandnessjøen and Mo i Rana today have maternity wards. In addition, Brønnøysund has a maternity ward at its DMS. Does this mean that all these maternity services will continue for the next four years? Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) answers. – In the National Health and Cooperation Plan, the government will announce that the current maternity services are to be maintained during the plan period, given proper operation. There must therefore be enough professionals to ensure proper operation. Minister of Health and Care Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap), pictured here during a visit to Lofoten before Christmas. Photo: Vilde Bratland Erikstad She has now postponed Helse Nord’s deadline to assess changes in operations until the end of June this year. – In this work, it must be assumed that today’s food supply will be maintained, given proper operation. But even though Kjerkol has gone a long way to protecting maternity services and emergency surgery in Lofoten and Narvik, the problems in Helse Nord have not been solved. – If we don’t solve the challenges of access to professionals and demographic changes, the north may have a worse health service and the government will not accept that, she says. Local politicians: Støre should keep his promise – We are very aware that he said that, because he was in Sandnessjøen when he said it. That’s what a leader in one of the Labor Party’s local teams in Helgeland says. Odd Arnold Skogsholm in the Alstahaug Labor Party says that he expects Støre to stand by the promise he made during the visit in autumn 2020. – Yes, I expect that, says Skogsholm. Odd Arnold Skogsholm is leader of the Alstahaug Labor Party. Photo: Kåre Riibe Ramskjell / news What Helgeland now needs, according to Skogsholm, is to implement the decision that Høie came up with in 2020. – We are exhausted from matches and interim periods that come to nothing. Now something has to happen. He receives support from the group leader in Rana Arbeiderparti, Lars Yngve Frøysa. – We have a clear position that we need two hospitals in Helgeland, and that the decision made under Høie should be implemented. Lars Yngve Frøysa is a manager at Rana Ap. Photo: Are Bjørgen When asked if he expects Støre to stand by the law, Frøysa is ready. – Yes, as far as Helgeland Hospital is concerned, we are ready for that. Wants a rematch But not the entire Labor Party in Helgeland agrees on what the parent party should do. Because while both Sandnessjøen and Mo i Rana were allowed to keep their respective hospitals, hospital provision was to be greatly reduced in Mosjøen. That is why Vefsn’s mayor wants a rematch about Høie’s hospital decision. Rune Krutå is mayor of the Labor Party in the industrial town of Vefsn in Helgeland. Photo: Terje Haugnes – We believe that a centrally located hospital must be built in Helgeland. An important prerequisite for a two-hospital model to work would be that a new hospital was built between Mosjøen and Sandnessjøen and covered both regions, says Rune Krutå. He adds that one hospital centrally located in Helgeland is also in line with the wishes of the 12 municipalities that collaborated on hospitals from the start. Krf leader: – Støre should answer Party leader Olaug Bollestad in the Kristelig Folkeparti believes Støre himself should answer for the promises he made some three years ago. – Støre should himself answer why he has changed his mind, and not push the ministry ahead of him. KRF leader Olaug Bollestad does not understand why Støre protected the hospitals in Helgeland, only because his government opened the door for a rematch as soon as they came to power. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news She questions why Støre made the statements, seen in light of the fact that the Labor Party itself has opened a new rematch in Helgeland. – One can ask why it was so important to call for calm after the decision on the hospital structure in 2019, which an almost unanimous Storting was behind, while the government is now concerned with pushing through the decisions in the ministry. Party leader Kirsti Bergstø in the government’s support party SV, visited the hospital in Narvik on Monday. Here she received a question from news about whether SV believes the prime minister should stand by his promises from 2020, but she did not want to answer the question.
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Hospital legislation Støre will not respond to – news Nordland
