Reader's Opinion | There is no hospital too many in northern Finland

Lapland is a large and vibrant area, as in the Helsingin Sanomat editorial (HS 2.4.) was stated. It also referred to Lapland's service network and Meri-Lapland's health care. There are never too many hospitals in Lapland.

I have worked at Länsi-Pohja Central Hospital and later Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohja from 1991 to 2019, first as an assistant doctor and later as a specialist. I have been on duty in the emergency room, anesthesia emergency room and internal medicine emergency room, and in my daytime work I have been an anesthesiologist, in intensive care and cardiac monitoring, and as a cardiologist. I have directly or indirectly saved several lives and, above all, I have prevented numerous people from being seriously injured. It has been successful because help has been close. In addition to the locals, there have been many Lapland travelers and passers-by.

Now the hospital's existence is being questioned citing the number of patients, lack of experience and when. A small central hospital is not a university hospital, but everything that can be done has always been done and known to be done there. Above all, help has been close.

There is no hospital too many in Northern Finland. I hope that the decision-makers will look up from the number of patients and procedures, look at the map, measure the distances and think really concretely about how it feels to travel around Lapland and Northern Ostrobothnia in different ways, sick and in pain. Distances, even with the current number of hospitals, are very long and after the planned reductions, downright unnecessary.

In addition, we live in increasingly turbulent times worldwide. Doesn't security of supply also worry the decision-makers? As our history has taught us, in troubled times the borders have always been bustling.

Anne Nurmiranta

specialist, Oulu

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