South Karelia may close Parikkala ward over costs and doctor shortage

South Karelia’s wellbeing services county is considering closing its inpatient ward in Parikkala by the end of the year because of financial pressure and a shortage of doctors, Yle reports.

The county estimates that closing the ward would save at least 1.6 million euros. The ward has 24 patient beds and 29 employees, and many of its patients are transferred from the central hospital in Lappeenranta for rehabilitation or recovery from illness.

Parikkala’s beds cost the county about 103,000 euros each per year, compared with about 80,000 euros per bed at a similar ward in Taipalsaari. The county says the shortage of doctors pushes up costs. Buying doctor services is expensive, and there have not been enough doctors available for hire.

As a result, the county has to consider which patients can be sent to Parikkala. Central hospital director Jarno Gauffin said some patients there can wait three or four days for a local doctor if necessary. About one in five patients at the ward lives in Parikkala; the ward treats people from across South Karelia.

The potential closure would affect the inpatient ward, but not the entire Parikkala health and social services station. South Karelia plans to concentrate inpatient care mainly at the central hospital campus in Lappeenranta. Gauffin said there are enough available beds there to provide the care patients need.

Kaisa Vaittinen-Kiuru, who lives in Rautjärvi, visits a relative at the Parikkala ward about once a week. She said the possible closure makes her worry that services will move further south in the region. Parikkala is about 100 kilometres from Lappeenranta, while Rautjärvi is about 80 kilometres away.

Several other wellbeing services counties have recently closed inpatient wards. Social policy professor Ville-Pekka Sorsa of the University of Helsinki said financial pressures and preparations for declining populations often drive such decisions. He also pointed to longer-term changes: hospital stays have shortened and the number of inpatient beds has fallen throughout the 2000s, partly as treatment methods and service structures have changed.

Sorsa said closures can weaken public confidence in health services and raise concerns about equal access as travel distances increase. Wellbeing services counties have taken different approaches to replacing closed wards, including mobile services or concentrating care and transporting patients.

South Karelia must save a total of 3.2 million euros from hospital services next year, Gauffin said. The county considers the projected savings from closing the Parikkala ward significant.