Denmark to send rotating medical staff to Greenland amid healthcare crisis

A new agreement between Danish Regions and Greenland’s health service will see doctors and nurses from Denmark deployed on rotating assignments to stabilize understaffed hospitals in Greenland, state broadcaster DR reports.

The scheme, set to begin on 1 September, will focus on acute care, obstetrics, and psychiatry—areas hit hardest by chronic shortages. Medical staff from Danish hospitals will volunteer for full-time positions in Greenland, working in shifts to ensure continuous coverage.

Wages will follow Greenlandic pay scales, which are typically lower than in Denmark, but participants will receive a supplementary “relay allowance” under the deal. The arrangement aims to reduce Greenland’s reliance on costly short-term hires, whose expenses have surged by 60% since 2020, according to a 2025 health council report.

Anna Wangenheim, Greenland’s minister for health and disability affairs, called the agreement a step toward resolving “a historic healthcare crisis in modern times.” She emphasized that it would improve stability for patients and working conditions for staff by increasing continuity and expertise.

The initiative follows a visit last October by then-Danish health minister Sophie Løhde, during which Wangenheim stressed the need to strengthen cross-border cooperation. Danish Regions has allocated 10 million kroner for the first year and 15 million kroner annually thereafter to fund the program.

The agreement comes a week after a visit by US special envoy to Greenland Jeff Landry, who brought a physician to assess local healthcare conditions. In February, US President Donald Trump proposed sending a hospital ship to Greenland—a offer rejected by Greenlandic premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen.