SÁÁ staff demand resignation of chair and executive board

Nearly all employees of SÁÁ have issued a vote of no confidence in the organisation’s chair and executive board, demanding that they step down, mbl.is reported on Friday.

The statement follows the resignation of Ásmundur Friðriksson from the board over disagreements with its majority. The dispute at Vogur, an SÁÁ treatment facility, has since escalated.

Employees said the serious situation within SÁÁ could not be explained as normal management changes or isolated personnel matters. Several key managers overseeing the organisation’s healthcare and treatment services have left their positions, while departing managers have expressed serious concerns about the board’s involvement in the organisation’s professional work.

Employees stand behind managers

Employees said that, before the current events began, the situation within SÁÁ had been good. They said they had been proud of the organisation’s development and progress and satisfied with the direction pursued under the leadership of Ragnheiður. New contracts had been an important milestone and a major success for the organisation, creating opportunities to further develop and strengthen its services.

They said employee satisfaction had been higher than ever and that staff had strongly wanted to continue the work that had begun.

Concern over governance

Employees said they were deeply concerned that the progress, unity and positive development achieved within SÁÁ were now at risk. They wanted to continue following the professional direction that had been established and build on the results achieved under Ragnheiður and other professional managers.

They also referred to public comments by Valgerður Rúnarsdóttir, SÁÁ’s medical director. The employees said her concerns carried significant weight because she is one of Iceland’s most experienced doctors in addiction treatment and had stated that the board’s involvement in professional healthcare work was unacceptable. She had also said she could no longer work under the conditions the board intended to create.

According to the employees, the issue was therefore not merely a dispute between individuals. They said it concerned SÁÁ’s governance, the professional independence of its healthcare work and the future of the important services entrusted to the organisation.

“SÁÁ staff carry significant daily responsibility towards patients and their relatives,” the statement said. “We work according to professional and ethical obligations and therefore believe we must respond when decisions and governance practices may threaten professional continuity, workplace peace and trust within the organisation.”

Employees call for clear answers

The statement said the departure of experienced key managers, together with their serious concerns about the board’s involvement in professional work, required clear answers.

Employees said they had not been given an adequate explanation of how the situation had arisen, where responsibility lay or how the professional independence of healthcare work would be secured in the future.

“Trust cannot be restored simply by stating that operations will continue,” they said. “It is built on transparency, accountability, credible information and respect for professional boundaries. In our view, trust has now been broken.”