Oulu plans to move psychiatric inpatient care from Peltola

Psychiatric inpatient care is planned to move entirely away from Peltola, a psychiatric care complex in Oulu, Yle reports. The change would end a century of psychiatric treatment at the site.

Peltola is also referenced in the debut album by Maustetytöt, a popular band from Vaala. The album is titled Kaikki tiet vievät Peltolaan, or All Roads Lead to Peltola.

Peltola currently has five psychiatric buildings. Inpatient care is provided in three of them, outpatient care is concentrated in a fourth, and the fifth houses functions including administration.

Serious indoor air problems were found earlier this spring in the PS1 building, one of the inpatient facilities. Operations there must end as soon as possible.

The North Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county, Pohde, is also examining the condition and indoor air quality of the other old hospital buildings at Peltola. The results are expected in September.

Sanna Blanco Sequeiros, director of psychiatric services, said that regardless of the findings, it now appears clear that all inpatient care will eventually move elsewhere.

She said the wards are linked to one another and that each building requires services such as an on call psychiatrist. Keeping these functions separate would be difficult, she said.

Blanco Sequeiros also hopes that outpatient care and administration will move away from Peltola. Planning for the changes is just beginning, and Pohde estimates that planning will cost about 1.5 million euros.

Pohde is examining whether the operations at Peltola could be transferred to the area of the new Oulu University Hospital. The timetable for the changes has not yet been decided.

Temporary reduction in beds possible

Pohde is still looking for a rapid solution for the operations currently housed in the PS1 building. These include wards for mood disorders, child psychiatry and adolescent psychiatry, as well as a hospital school.

Space is to be arranged in at least two other inpatient buildings at Peltola. Some operations may also be moved to suitable temporary premises elsewhere, but no decision has been made.

Blanco Sequeiros said final decisions would wait for the results of the examinations of the other Peltola buildings. She said psychiatric inpatient capacity might have to be temporarily reduced if sufficient premises cannot be found.

Peltola currently has 105 beds for adults, 34 for young people and six for children.

Pohde announced earlier this summer that construction of the new L building at Oulu University Hospital was due to begin. The building would house, among other functions, the City of Oulu’s hospital school and is scheduled to open in autumn 2027.