70 years old | Risto Rautava does not agree to talk about the HUS crisis: “Challenges yes”

To cadet school while striving Risto Rautava was honest. “You can retire from the army at such a young age,” he answered when the head of the school asked about his motivation for becoming an officer.

“I thought it would end my officership, but I still got to school,” says the politician from Helsinki with a smile. It went a little better in the actual tests.

He praises his almost 30 years as an officer: responsibility-inducing, people-oriented cooperation for the sake of the motherland. He went to the coastal artillery because he had fallen in love with the sea and the islands since his childhood summers in the eastern Gulf of Finland.

The retirement age came at the age of 52. Shortly before transferring to the reserve, Commander Rautava had rediscovered an interest in politics, which had been extinguished in the 1970s teenage scandals.

“When I was young, I immersed myself in politics too much – in Teiniliito, the school council, the Kokompusnuori – and I got bored of it. I swore never again.”

“

“When I was young, I immersed myself in politics too much and got bored. I swore never again.”

But now there was time and enthusiasm again. The EVP commander became a city boss. The desire to make an impact soon brought Rautava to the core of Helsinki’s municipal democracy – such as the city council, HSL and urban planning.

He still belongs to the same power category.

Currently, Rautava heads the board of HUS. HUS is a huge specialized healthcare group with a budget of three billion, it handles 700,000 patient visits a year and employs 27,000 people.

But the problems are also big. Experienced Osmo Soininvaara recently even resigned from the board of HUS as a protest against the corporation’s worsening under-resourcing, which he believes threatens to lead to violations of the law.

Is there a reason to talk about the HUS crisis?

“Not right now, but about the challenges,” chairman Rautava pauses. He says he shares the same concern about under-resourcing and threats, but he is not about to give up and is preparing for persistent political negotiations.

“When it comes to the most valuable thing, i.e. people’s health, we just have to make an effort together. Patient safety is priority number one.”

Ironically according to HUS’s bottlenecks are the length of treatment queues and the adequacy of research funding and staff. As it is, he doesn’t even care about the current recruitment ban.

“Now we don’t automatically hire someone else to replace someone who retires from HUS, jobs are also combined and rationalized – on the other hand, employees are better available this time and job satisfaction has improved,” Rautava reasons confidently.

Just as brightly, he ponders the state and space of the city of Helsinki. “Fantastic new residential areas like Kalasatama and Jätkäsaari have been born and are being born, and with full reason I can characterize the whole of Helsinki as a pleasant place to live.”

“And we have the resources to take care of things, the city’s finances are in order.”

When Rauvalta asks if there is something that is not worth bragging about, he remains silent at first. After digging around for a while, he finds something: “Well, the underground traffic arrangements in the inner city have not been passed, but that’s not because of the coalition, but mainly because of the will of the greens and the left.”

Rautava considers the big issues of urban living, such as opposing segregation, implemented well.

“Living in general goes well in Helsinki, you can get apartments for rent on the private market at reasonable prices. And there has been success in eradicating the persistent torment of cities, homelessness.”

What would you tell your 20-year-old self?

“Better be happy than right.”