Pohde plans €19m cuts targeting hospital and elderly

North Ostrobothnia’s wellbeing services county Pohde is preparing more than €19 million in additional service cuts for next year, Yle reports. The plans include ending day surgery at Oulaskangas Hospital, reducing carer allowances by 30 per cent and closing some supported housing units.

The largest savings, about €8 million, would come from services for older people. Pohde’s regional council is expected to decide on the plan in November.

Pohde’s future committee discussed a draft plan for organising social and healthcare services on Thursday. The plan sets key objectives through 2030 and outlines measures for the coming years.

“The draft includes painful measures, but also operational changes,” said Kirsti Ylitalo-Katajisto, director of social and healthcare service organisation at Pohde. She said the starting point had been to safeguard statutory services for customers during the county’s difficult financial situation.

Once all operational and structural changes have been implemented, the total annual savings are expected to exceed €26 million in 2028. The regional government will consider the draft next Tuesday.

Day surgery may end at Oulaskangas

Oulaskangas Hospital in Oulainen lost its overnight emergency service almost a year ago. Pohde is now considering ending its day surgery operations as well.

Ylitalo-Katajisto said the change would save about €2 million. The hospital would continue to provide specialist outpatient care, a social and healthcare centre and an acute ward. Remote services, including remote monitoring of pacemakers, would also be concentrated there.

Pohde is also seeking savings in Raahe, where the local pain clinic is planned to move to OYS.

More communal housing planned for older people

Pohde does not plan to increase the number of round-the-clock care places in line with the growing older population. Instead, it wants more older people to live in communal housing.

“We need more communal housing facilities. Not all existing facilities meet legal requirements. At the same time, home hospital services will be expanded,” Ylitalo-Katajisto said.

Carers would also be affected. Their allowances would be reduced by 30 per cent, bringing them in line with the average in other wellbeing services counties. Ylitalo-Katajisto said Pohde had paid allowances clearly above the statutory level, but acknowledged that the reduction could lead to fewer people becoming carers.

New negotiations may follow

Pohde’s recent cooperation negotiations covering its 18,000 employees ended in September. As a result, the employment of up to 511 workers will end, including 302 redundancies.

The measures were intended to reduce personnel costs by €30 million in 2027. Ylitalo-Katajisto said the additional savings had become necessary after the state’s funding for next year proved significantly lower than earlier calculations.

New cooperation negotiations are already on the horizon if the plan for organising social and healthcare services proceeds as intended, she said.