Finland's sole hospital outsourcing continues despite legislative changes

Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohja is a subsidiary of Mehiläinen, the largest social and healthcare operator in the Nordic countries. Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohja has provided specialised healthcare services at the Länsi-Pohja Central Hospital in the City of Kemi, as well as primary healthcare and dental care services to residents of the City of Kemi and the City of Tornio since 2018. Due to Finland’s new social welfare and healthcare legislation, the outsourcing contract for Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohja had to be amended, terminated or annulled.

Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohja and the Lapland wellbeing services county have concluded their negotiations and the amended contract was signed on 16th of February 2023.

“I am pleased with our partnership with the Lapland wellbeing services county and I would like to thank them for their continued trust in Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohja. We want to continue the active development of our operations and work towards improving the care of our customers, ” says Lasse Männistö, CEO of Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohja.

The most significant amendment in the agreement concerns the transfer of emergency care servicet and inpatient admission triage of the Länsi-Pohja Central Hospital from Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohja to the Lapland wellbeing services county as of the beginning of 2025.

The operations of Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohja have been successful. Since subsidiary's establishment in 2018, the contract price of outsourced services has increased annually by an average of 1.2%, while the expenditure of Finland's public specialised healthcare has increased by 3.7%. The provision of services is of high quality, and access to healthcare is fast. Customers' Net Promoter Score (NPS) was at an excellent level (81) in 2023. Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohja has also effectively addressed the labour shortage affecting the entire industry.

Key Figures of Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohja

• Revenue: 64,1meur
• Employees: 700
• Population covered by Mehiläinen Länsi-Pohjas services: 58,000
• Patient visits: Over 150,000
• NPS: 81