Care dispute leaves Villa Sipriina borrowing to pay staff

Villa Sipriina, a private group home for adults with intellectual disabilities in Kirkkonummi, is in a dispute with the Western Uusimaa wellbeing services county over care classifications and unpaid invoices, Yle reports. The home’s owner has taken out loans to pay staff wages, while the payment dispute is being mediated in district court.

Villa Sipriina provides services under a contract put out to tender by the wellbeing services county in 2025. The county said the contract would exclude the 13 residents who were already living at the home when it came into force.

For those residents, the county required a reassessment of their need for services. According to relatives, the county has systematically lowered their care classifications, which reduces its costs.

Anu Harttunen-Rytkönen, Villa Sipriina’s owner and entrepreneur, did not accept the changes. The wellbeing services county, in turn, refused to pay invoices for care exceeding the classifications it had assigned.

Milla Ylitalo’s severely disabled child, now a young adult, has lived at Villa Sipriina for several years. Ylitalo, who lives in Kanta-Häme, said the home had initially provided relief from the constant worry associated with caring for a child with an intellectual disability.

She was particularly pleased that her child called Villa Sipriina home.

The resident was previously assigned care classification three but is now classified as level one. The wellbeing services county has therefore limited the assessed need for care to a few hours a day, instead of the nearly round-the-clock care previously provided.

Ylitalo said the decision appeared arbitrary, particularly because she had not been given reasons for it. She said her child needed constant prompting, guidance and supervision, all of which were provided in group homes.

The wellbeing services county has prohibited the care home from releasing classification information to “third parties, residents or their representatives”. Yle has seen a screenshot of such a document.

Yle is not publishing the resident’s name, age or gender because the article concerns their health information.

Ylitalo has sought advice from the Permit and Supervisory Agency and filed a complaint with the Parliamentary Ombudsman. She said it was difficult to know whether to file a complaint or a formal notification, and what procedure applied in each case.

Both Ylitalo and Harttunen-Rytkönen described the situation as absurd. Harttunen-Rytkönen accused the wellbeing services county of “playing a really dirty game”.

Villa Sipriina has 15 places for residents and also provides daytime activities for people with intellectual disabilities.

Yle was unable to reach the Western Uusimaa wellbeing services county’s director responsible for disability services or its communications director for comment on Friday. Helsingin Sanomat has previously reported on disagreements between the care home and the wellbeing services county.

Ylitalo also said that attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities had hardened in society in recent years. The Finnish Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities is among organisations whose future is currently threatened by cuts to social and healthcare grants, the article says.