Emergency department faces crisis at Keski-Suomen Hospital Nova in Finland

The emergency department at Keski-Suomen Hospital Nova has faced significant congestion for an extended period, and staff are concerned that the centralization of emergency services scheduled for September will exacerbate the issue. A recurring problem highlights the shortage of post-acute care places, causing patients to become stuck waiting in emergency, further burdening the staff. Last autumn, hospital personnel expressed their concerns through a petition addressed to the wellbeing region’s administration, calling it an emergency cry, indicating that patient safety was already at risk due to the ongoing issues.

In response, a transitional unit for emergency patients was opened at the hospital, but it has also faced capacity issues, according to Ossi Hannula, a specialist in emergency medicine and one of the petition organizers. The upcoming reform, which will close five regional evening and weekend urgent care centers, raises further alarms among staff. From now on, urgent cases will be treated either in Jyväskylä or Äänekoski during evenings and weekends, while Jämsä will maintain its 24/7 emergency services.

No new staff are being recruited for these consolidated centers despite a projected significant increase in patient numbers. Hannula estimates that the number of patients could rise by 10-20 on weekdays and 20-40 on weekends. The wellbeing region anticipates that Äänekoski will receive 100-120 more emergency patients monthly and that Nova will see an increase of around 60-70 patients weekly.

Ilkka Käsmä, the district chief physician, disclosed that existing staff will be utilized for the expanded centers, with minor increases in physician and nurse staffing in some locations. Nursing staff will take on greater autonomy, drawing on a pool of trained nurses now freed up from closing local health services. Nonetheless, concerns remain regarding whether the changes will genuinely alleviate the situation, with Hannula describing the atmosphere surrounding the reform as “catastrophic.”