Kalasatama centre brings care for 137,000 residents under one roof

Helsinki’s Kalasatama health and wellbeing centre serves more than 137,000 residents, bringing social and health services together under one roof, Yle reports. The centre was designed to support collaboration between professionals and provide more joined-up care.

On a busy morning, people arriving at the six-storey centre register in the entrance hall before heading to different services. Customer Ritva Savtschenko said the crowd in the lobby can feel overwhelming, but the building feels less busy once people spread out across its floors.

The open entrance area is intended to keep visitors from being identified by the type of service they need, whether that is physiotherapy, substance-use or mental health care, or a vaccination. Staff also assess care needs there.

Professionals work in shared open-plan spaces, making it easier to consult colleagues and draw on specialist expertise. Acting chief physician Nicolas Antti said this differs from a traditional health centre where doctors work in separate rooms. Physiotherapy deputy head nurse Joni Flyckt said staff can easily visit other departments to ask for advice.

Researcher Kaisa Pasanen, whose doctoral thesis examined the centre’s work with people who need many services, found that cooperation between professionals had improved and that these customers could access services more easily. Many felt they were treated as whole people rather than as a collection of separate conditions or problems. However, services can still operate according to separate guidelines, leaving some customers caught between them.

The centre has been operating for about a decade and has seen its customer numbers grow quickly. Helsinki has not hired enough staff to match the population growth, although the situation is improving. The city has paused plans to close smaller health centres, while another large wellbeing centre, in Kamppi, is due to open early next year.