Outside Lycksele hospital, we meet new mother Emilia Tossman and her 5-week-old daughter Vera.
– It is very sad that they are closing, it is a security to have BB so close to where you live, here in Lycksele, says Emilia.
The obstetrics and gynecology department at Lycksele hospital has had difficulty recruiting staff for several years, and now they are closing over Christmas and New Year for the fourth time. Last year it was closed the whole year. The politicians then discussed hiring a private company for staffing, but it was too expensive according to the red-green majority.
Then they talked about the “Lycksele model” with midwife-led delivery and attracting staff by “here women can give birth in water”. This year, the business has largely depended on rental staff and now they are closing again.
– It is tragic, I think it is a betrayal of those who will give birth in the future, the majority have failed. It would have been more long-term to hire the private company, says Anna Ackemo (M), councilor in the Västerbotten region.
– In the best of all worlds, we would have stayed open, but we haven’t been able to get hold of staff, says the chairman of the health care board, Anna-Lena Danielsson (S).
“Can’t get hold of midwives and doctors”
TV4 Nyheterna’s survey of the regions shows that all other maternity clinics in the country are open this Christmas and New Year. In Lycksele, there are three women who are expected to give birth when it is closed. They then have to go to Umeå – a journey of up to five hours for the person who lives furthest away.
– I don’t want to think it’s about money, but the idea has struck me that you save money by closing for two weeks, says Anna Ackemo (M).
– It is absolutely not about saving money. Lycksele has the country’s smallest BB and we can’t get hold of midwives and doctors so that it can be patient safe, says Anna-Lena Danielsson (S).
Worried about the hospital’s future
Anna Ackemo believes that people in Västerbotten’s hinterland are worried about what will happen to the hospital.
– It feels like this is the first step, if BB doesn’t work, can we then call ourselves an emergency hospital? And what will be the next step, will we just be a department for long-term care?, asks Anna Ackemo (M).
The new mother Emilia Tossman believes that the competition is fierce from the hospitals in Umeå and Skellefteå.
– I think the staff would rather work there and live in cities that are bigger than Lycksele, says Emilia Tossman.