The case summarized: UNN director Anita Schumacher was dismissed by the board a few months before she was due to retire. The board of the University Hospital of Northern Norway (UNN) has been newly appointed and wants to start a restructuring process as quickly as possible. The medical association reacts to the treatment of Schumacher and calls it an unnecessary mark from the new board. UNN expects major financial challenges in 2024, and entered the new year with a deficit of around NOK 100 million from 2023. Chairman Anders Mohn Frafjord rejects that the deficit from 2023 is the reason why Schumacher had to leave earlier than planned. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – This is an unnecessary marking from the new board, says Jo-Endre Midtbu, leader of Trom’s medical association. Yesterday, the board of the University Hospital of Northern Norway (UNN) fired its managing director Anita Schumacher, just a few months before she was due to retire. Midtbu and his members received the message with surprise. He points out that large parts of the board, including the manager, were newly appointed by Helse Nord just one month ago. They had their first meeting two weeks ago – before they gathered yesterday for an extraordinary board meeting where Schumacher was dismissed. – I understand that they want to highlight that there are new costs, but to take such a dramatic step, a few months before Schumacher was due to retire, is surprisingly aggressive from the new chairman, says Midtbu. Jo-Endre Midtbu, is leader of Trom’s medical association, and believes that Schumacher was unnecessarily badly treated by the new board. Photo: Pål Hansen / news Willing to continue On Tuesday evening, UNN announced in a press release that Schumacher had agreed with the board that she should resign as early as Friday this week. But it became clear early on that the outgoing CEO had not stepped down voluntarily. – My plan was to continue until the summer. I was prepared for that, said Anita Schumacher to news on Tuesday evening. See the full interview with the outgoing UNN director. She says she was surprised when she received feedback from the new board that she had to step back. – But I also understand that. The new board wants to take new steps to meet the challenges UNN is facing. – I have full respect for that. This is why UNN is in financial trouble In total, Northern Health requires that the hospitals in the north save NOK 927 million in 2024. Measures for NOK 250 million are still missing. At the University Hospital of Northern Norway, 63 million is missing from a total need for cuts of 377.8 million. There, the board has asked the administration to come back with more measures in March to solve the rest of the cuts. In 2023, UNN ran with a deficit of 100 million. Due to high sickness absence and a lack of professionals, UNN spent almost NOK 150 million on hiring from private parties. UNN also spends large sums on missed deadlines. In 2022, missing the deadline generated a cost for the hospital of NOK 52.5 million. In 2023, the sum was close to NOK 100 million. UNN needs NOK 115 million to expand the psychiatric hospital in Tromsø. An amount UNN does not have. Einar Bugge, who is UNN’s deputy managing director, will step into an appointed role pending a new top manager, UNN informs. Photo: news Will start restructuring Anders Mohn Frafjord has been director of Diakonhjemmet hospital and became chairman of UNN on 7 February this year. He explains that the reason for Anita Schumacher’s departure is that UNN wants to start the restructuring process in the health institution as quickly as possible. Anders Mohn Frafjord tells news that the reason Schumacher had to leave was that the new board wanted to start restructuring work at the University Hospital in Northern Norway. – The work will take place over several years. In this connection, we see it as natural that the person leading the restructuring program is someone who will remain at UNN after the summer, says Frafjord. Midtbu does not particularly understand that argument. – I understand that they want continuity and progress in that process, but now they would rather, overnight, bring in Einar Bugge, who is not necessarily the one who will be the new director after the summer, he says, and adds: – Bugge must move around and can initiate some work now, but there may still be a change of director over the summer. Midtbu points out that successful changes typically start from the professional environment, and not from the top. He believes the move is a clear signal that the new chairman is dissatisfied with the job Schumacher has done. That surprises the trade union leaders. – Schumacher has not been a very marked leader, but she joined UNN in a very turbulent time, and has in many ways created calm, he says. Anders Mohn Frafjord has been director of Diakonhjemmet hospital and became chairman of UNN on 7 February. Photo: Andreas de Brito Jonassen / news UNN must be restructured Anders Mohn Frafjord rejects that the deficit from 2023 is the reason why Schumacher had to leave even earlier than planned. The big picture, which applies to both UNN and the whole of Health Norway, is that these are demanding times and many challenges. – We have a great need for change at UNN. Frafjord believes that Schumacher’s departure must be seen in the context of the long-term strategic perspective and the need to start this change immediately. At the same time, the chairman points to the areas where Schumaker, and the rest of the management at UNN, have not succeeded. – There is a particularly high level of sickness absence. We are not managing to a large enough extent to coordinate activities and staffing, he says. He emphasizes that this is not a problem for UNN alone, but affects the whole of Helse-Nord. – This in turn creates the need for us to think a little bigger and more long-term in order to change course in this area. UNN among the 250 best hospitals Jo-Endre Midtbu believes Schumacher has led UNN through the pandemic in a good way, and points out that the hospital is now on the list of the 250 best hospitals in the world. – It is a good achievement, although it is not necessarily her merit alone. However, it happened on her watch. There is respect for the work Schumacher has done at UNN. – This says something about a change of pace in the pace of restructuring, and we are of course keeping a close eye on that. Midtbu also believes that it is strange to make such a change at the same time as everyone is waiting for decisions on the major restructuring process in Helse Nord. – These decisions will set strong guidelines for the restructuring work that UNN must also do. The next few months should really be a period where we could breathe a little and work on influencing Helse Nord’s long-term restructuring work, while at the same time you have to start thinking about strategies for restructuring in the individual hospitals, including in UNN.
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In the summers she was to retire – the new UNN board did not want to wait – news Troms and Finnmark
