Chief Executive Officer: Balancing the finances and covering the deficits has created a more stable foundation for the coming years

Our current strategy came into effect in 2023. At the same time as the strategy was being reformed, our organizational structure was also reformed. We built a profit-area-based model for HUS in place of the old area-based model and established a customer relations management organization that forms an interface with the wellbeing services counties. We also reviewed our entire service network.

We balanced the budget and covered the deficits.

Alongside organizational and strategic reforms, one of our most important tasks in recent years, and particularly in 2025, has been to balance our finances. Our funding comes from the Uusimaa wellbeing services counties and the City of Helsinki, not directly from the state. This creates an operating environment that is difficult to predict. 

In 2023, the Uusimaa wellbeing services counties and Helsinki allocated most of the funding they received from the state to themselves, leaving only a very small portion for HUS. Although the difference in funding has evened out in 2024 and 2025, the imbalance in the funding base remains. 

The goal for 2025 was to balance our finances and cover the deficits from previous financial years. We were successful in this target.

Balancing the finances has required us to make savings totaling around EUR 320 million over three years. The budget framework for 2025 was once again too tight, and savings of EUR 140 million were required. This meant that, as a last resort, we had to initiate cooperation negotiations affecting the entire personnel in the fall of 2024. 

However, our strict financial discipline has yielded results. The development of operating expenses has been favorable, and as a result, we have succeeded in balancing our finances and covering deficits as required by law and on schedule by the end of 2025. 

Employee and customer experience remained at a good level and access to treatment improved

While balancing our finances, we have invested in our personnel, our customers, and access to treatment. 

The cooperation negotiations were difficult for the entire staff, and we expected them to have a negative impact on employee experience, trust, and availability. However, this did not happen, and staff satisfaction with management has remained at a good level. Staff turnover has also decreased and staff availability has been good. 

Our customers’ experience of HUS improved during 2025, and the Net Promoter Score (NPS) was 83 at the end of the year. This is a great achievement from our personnel. 

Access to treatment has also improved. At its worst, we had a backlog in treatment corresponding to EUR 65 million in 2023, but by the end of 2025, this had been reduced by almost half to EUR 35 million. This is an excellent accomplishment in the current economic climate.

In summary, it can be said that even a large ship will turn and change course when measures are taken in a decisive and proactive manner. For this, we are especially grateful to everyone working at HUS. 

Productivity must also be improved in the coming years

Although our situation looks good, we must remember the economic reality of the wellbeing services counties. Not everyone is doing as well. It creates risks and uncertainty – and HUS does not exist in a bubble. 

The tight economic framework is here to stay, and it requires us to improve productivity in the coming years as well. However, there should be no need for drastic savings at this time; so we do have a little more breathing room. We can focus on providing our customers with even better service within the required time frame and on being an even better place to work.

Matti Bergendahl
Chief Executive Officer