– In order to take into account the future and all circumstances, after a comprehensive assessment we have come to the conclusion that we are terminating the working relationship with Natasha, says chairman Ansgar Gabrielsen. – Can you run Andreas Hus without founder Natasha Pedersen? – There are many legal things that have to be looked at, but that does not change the decision. It will only have an impact on the possibility of carrying it out, replies Gabrielsen. Chairman Ansgar Gabrielsen of the Association for Children’s Palliative Care says a united board is behind the dismissal of founder Natasha Pedersen. Photo: Siv Kristin Sællmann / news The chairman emphasizes that the secretary-general has made an invaluable contribution to the field over many years. – It is quite impressive to get the Storting to allocate NOK 30 million per year to an offer like this outside of the health company, says Gabrielsen. news has not succeeded in getting hold of founder and general secretary Natasha Pedersen despite several attempts. Comprehensive investigation The board of the association today held a several-hour-long board meeting after it became known that they must repay a double-digit million sum to the state. Nor will they receive more support from the Directorate of Health in the future. Thus, the future of the children’s hospice Andreas Hus in Kristiansand is highly uncertain. It was the Directorate of Health that launched a comprehensive investigation of the association’s finances last autumn. Today came the conclusion. In the more than one hundred page long report, questions are raised about the use of just over NOK 20 million from the state. Several objectionable findings are pointed out. Department director Elise Husum in the Directorate of Health reacts most to the fact that the association has played tricks with the accounts. – We do not trust them, she has told news. Chairman Gabrielsen says they will now engage in dialogue with the Norwegian Directorate of Health. The association has been given a deadline of 10 February to give feedback on the report. – Our goal is to start operations in this building that Kristiansand Næringsselskap (Knas) owns and for which we have a lease for ten years. Secretary General Natasha Pedersen started the Association for Children’s Palliative Care in 2009. Ever since then, she has worked to build a children’s hospice. Photo: JOHN-ANDRE SAMUELSEN / news Tough when life’s work unravels Outgoing Secretary General Natasha Pedersen has spoken to Fædrelandsvennen. There she says that she does not think Andreas Hus will be used. The interview was done before the dismissal became known. – I don’t think Andres Hus has any future. I don’t think the hospice will open. In that case it must be like something else, with a different name. It’s tough to experience your life’s work unraveling, said Pedersen then. On the association’s own website, Pedersen writes that everything the board and herself have done has been done in the best sense. “Building up a children’s hospice is new work, and it is easy afterwards to say that certain things could have been done differently, but we have worked to the best of our ability and according to the cash principle.”, it says. The Minister of Health: – Not good Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) believes that what appears in the report is very unfortunate. – The Directorate of Health has done a good job here. They have investigated a number of claims and found some answers which are unfortunately not good. The Minister of Health believes that the investigation shows that the change made by the current government by cutting earmarked grants was right. – Quality of the projects and transparency in the use of money are important, says Kjerkol. In June, Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) was on a tour of Andreas Hus. Photo: Heidi Ditlefsen / news It was the FRP that in 2020 secured a majority for annual earmarked state grants of NOK 30 million over five years to the association. FRP’s health policy spokesperson Bård Hoksrud says he is sorry for what appears in the report. – Serious things come to light. The board must now respond to this, he says. Hoksrud believes that the FRP cannot bear any responsibility for how the project developed. He believes that a privately run hospice for dying children will be an important offer. – It’s nitrist Nina Herigstad is the mother of Vegard (4), who is seriously ill and has always been skeptical of Andreas Hus. Herigstad believes that it is far too much money for an offer that benefits few. She thinks it is sad that huge sums are spent on things that do not help dying children. – I know who has paid the price for the money being wasted in this way. This money does not benefit seriously ill children, she says. Son Vegard was born with a rare genetic defect and will probably never grow up. Herigstad is disappointed on behalf of families who live such lives as themselves. She says she expects that the money distributed by the state will not be managed as it appears in the report. – It’s nitrite. I am disappointed on behalf of all families who live such lives as ours. Nina Herigstad is the mother of Vegard (4), who is seriously ill. She becomes sad when she hears what the association’s money has gone to.
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The association for child palliation ends the employment relationship with Natasha Pedersen – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
