The hospital in Sollefteå is threatened by major cutbacks. The intensive care unit, orthopedics, anesthesia, and operations, as well as pediatric and adolescent medicine, are proposed to be eliminated, which includes at least 146 positions.
People are scared. Those who risk getting a heart attack and stroke will have a three-hour longer transportation route to emergency care, says John Åberg (S), opposition councilor in the municipality.
At 11 am on Saturday, a demonstration march to the hospital began with a large turnout.
It's completely incredible. There was no end to the march. It just kept going. Now the entire parking lot outside the hospital is full. There are mothers sitting and hugging, there are children playing. There are people giving speeches and playing music, says Tova Modéen from Långsele, one of the demonstrators, at 1 pm.
"Got them to close"
She had visited shopkeepers in town before the demonstration, something that Tidningen Ångermanland was the first to report on.
I went around to all the shops in Sollefteå and got them to close down for the first hour of the demonstration, to show and attract even more people.
In 2017, the then S- and MP-controlled region decided to close down the maternity ward and acute surgery in Sollefteå, which led to large protests.
It feels like there's a long-term plan to actually remove all healthcare, says Åberg.
I fully understand why people are furious and upset. I myself am upset about this. It's not going to end well.
"Necessary", according to politicians
Tova Modeen's mother worked as a midwife at the maternity ward in Sollefteå and lost her job. Now it's time for new cutbacks and protests.
I don't really know what their plan is, if they want to kill Sollefteå in some way. But we want to live and stay here and be able to get healthcare. Not everyone wants to live in a big city, says she.
Tova Modeen doesn't believe that the regional politicians will back down this time either.
No, but it doesn't matter because we'll keep fighting, says she.
There is currently a political majority consisting of S, C, and M that governs Region Västernorrland. The chairman of the Health and Medical Care Committee, Viktoria Jansson, describes the decision on restructuring as necessary in a press release.
"We are among the regions that spend the most money in Sweden on hospital care, while we have an underfunded primary care, it's not sustainable", she says.
