According to a recent HS article, the economic situation of the wellbeing services counties has led to the closure or reduction of more than 100 health centres (HS 12.3.; https://www.hs.fi/politiikka/art-2000011073515.html)

Based on the data collected by Visa Väisänen (THL) in January 2025 on the plans of the wellbeing services counties, we are reviewing the health centres to be closed and possibly closed in the whole country in the SoteDataLab project. As shown in the figure below (Figure 1), the health centres to be closed down are mainly concentrated in the southern and western parts of the country. In Southern and Western Finland, the service network is already more dense than in Eastern and Northern Finland, which may be due to, for example, regional differences in the population base, the economy and the demand for health services.

Figure 1: Where are the health centers closed? Health stations in Finland and the Helsinki metropolitan area on the map.

Explanation: The map is based on a list of all health centres in Finland. The map illustrates which health centres have been closed, are being closed or may be closed compared to the network of health centres in September 2023. In January 2025, the data on health centres to be closed was compiled by Visa Väisänen (THL) as the main source of the service network plans of the wellbeing services counties.

The aim is to replace the operation of stations that are closed according to wellbeing services areas with digital and mobile services. Closure of health stations does not necessarily mean that the quality or availability of services is reduced. The impact of changes in the network of services may depend on the areas in which health centres are closed down, since health centres differ significantly in terms of population and socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics. 

We will soon publish a separate research blog in which we will take a closer look at how closed health centres differ in their population base from those that continue to operate. We will also consider whether the population living near the health centres to be closed has features that could affect their likelihood of benefiting from digital health services.

Stay tuned!

The authors of the blog:

Tapio Haaga, What a Kortelainen, Vivi Mauno, Aurora Morén, Alex Kivimäki and Meeri Seppä