Ward closure plan could separate elderly couples in North Karelia

North Karelia’s wellbeing services county has proposed closing inpatient wards in Ilomantsi and Lieksa, raising fears that patients will be sent far from home and separated from family. The proposal followed cooperation negotiations, Yle reported. The regional council will decide the wards’ future on December 10.

Auvo Hassinen currently drives 44 kilometres from his home in Tyrjänsaari to visit his wife, Sinikka, at the Ilomantsi ward. If there is no bed available there, she would most likely be sent to Kitee, about 100 kilometres away one way. If Kitee also has no space, patients could be taken anywhere in the region where a bed is available.

“I can still drive here, but a pensioner cannot afford to travel every day to the other side of the region to follow a relative,” Auvo Hassinen said.

Sinikka Hassinen is being treated for hip problems and is currently confined to bed. She said receiving care in her home municipality matters to her, and praised the support she has received from staff.

“We have paid taxes all our lives. Who have we paid them to, if we cannot even get care services in our own municipality?” she said.

The Ilomantsi ward treats adults with a range of needs, including fractures, pain requiring intravenous treatment, complex wound care and end-of-life care. It has 16 beds, more than 10 fewer than in previous years following cuts, according to ward manager Piia Niiranen. She said the unit treats patients intensively and efficiently, and that they are discharged home; there are currently no long-term patients there.

In Lieksa, the ward moved into new premises early last year and has 24 beds. Ward manager Tarja Martikainen said the need for care is unlikely to fall given the municipality’s age profile. She warned that older spouses may be unable to visit if a patient is treated far from home, with potentially severe consequences for couples at the end of life.

Lieksa’s ward has invested in palliative and end-of-life care through staff training and the design of its facilities.

Ilomantsi and Lieksa residents already travel long distances for many services, some of which have moved to Joensuu or Kuopio. The article also notes that wellbeing services counties across Finland have closed dozens of primary-care inpatient wards in recent years, reducing the number of beds by about 1,000.