A political rift has opened within Norway's Conservative Party over healthcare management. Northern party members want to dismantle the regional health enterprise system while Oslo leaders defend the model.
Nordland Conservatives passed a resolution this weekend calling to eliminate Norway's four regional health enterprises. These organizations manage hospitals and specialist healthcare services across the country.
Bodø Mayor Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen initiated the proposal. He described Norway as over-administered with too many government layers.
Our daily reality forces us to cut welfare services like 60 percent of municipalities, Ingebrigtsen said in a radio interview. Resources don't reach frontline workers properly, whether for hospital patients or municipal health services.
When asked if executive salaries triggered the move, he responded that this might be the final straw. People find it provocative when regional welfare services appear threatened by poor municipal finances.
Health enterprises have grown very large, he noted. They serve as middle management between the state owner and hospitals. We question whether we need such expensive intermediate layers.
Oslo Health Councilman Saliba Korkunc disagrees with his party colleague. I actually like the enterprise model, he stated plainly. It receives much criticism, but the health enterprises don't decide hospital funding levels - the government does.
Korkunc warned that Nordland's proposal would shift power from Bodø to Oslo. This moves decisions further from where people live, he cautioned. I'm unsure if that's wise. The potential gains might disappear in bureaucracy.
Ingebrigtsen countered that northern Conservatives want to decentralize power. We propose transferring more authority to individual hospitals, he explained. We need simpler thinking. It's high time we tackle a state bureaucracy that has grown too large.
Korkunc acknowledged the model needs improvement. I completely agree we must change to preserve the health enterprise system, he conceded. It's not perfect today, but scrapping everything seems irresponsible.
The debate exposes genuine tensions within Norway's governing party about healthcare administration costs versus regional equity. Both sides present reasonable arguments, but the northern push reflects real frustration with centralized bureaucracy.