There is an exhaustive and good level of public health care in Jyväskylä.
The public health care is divided into basic health care and specialist nursing.
In Finland, the county council is responsible for the health care services
within its area. Each resident in the county has the right for the public health
care that is offered by the county 
health centres. For example, health advice,
nursing, rehabilitation, mental health services, ambulance service and school
health care are all part of this basic health care system. Jyväskylä has
a city maintained health centre-hospital.
General practitioners and some specialists work at City of Jyväskylä health centres. When needed, the general practitioner at the health centre can refer a patient to a specialist at the general hospital. The patient can also be taken to the hospital without the referral in serious cases that need immediate treatment. An appointment must always be made for the doctor unless it is an emergency. If necessary, an interpreter is also booked from the regional Central Finland Interpreter Centre to be present at the appointment. A nurse will see the patient at the health centre, if the patient’s complaint does not require doctor’s attention.
On their arrival to the country, customers of the immigrant services, refugees
and the returning migrants moving to Jyväskylä will undergo a medical
examination. This way they also get their first contact to the health care
in their own area. The immigrants are also given advice on how to get dental
care and the services from the opticians. These are mostly covered by the private
sector. The person’s sight is first checked at the opticians and then,
if needed, by an eye specialist. The county can receive reimbursement for a
treatment from the state if a refugee or an immigrant is found to suffer from
a long-term illness that requires treatment in Finland.
Many of the medicines require a prescription written by the doctor. It is a good idea to visit the pharmacist so that the names of the medicines used in Finland would become familiar as well as to be able to find the correct products needed. If a certain medication that the customer is looking for is not available over the counter, it requires a prescription from the doctor.
An immigrant moving to Finland and receiving a permanent residence permit will get a Kela-card after registering their residency. The Social Insurance Institute will issue the Kela-card and by producing this, the person can show they are covered by the Finnish National Insurance. The card is needed when visiting the health centre or the hospital. By showing the Kela-card, the pharmacist gives some reductions on prescribed medication. The card is also available with a photograph for a fee. This could then be used as identification in, for example, the bank, although mostly people use an identity card or a driver’s licence issued by the police. The Kela-card must be returned to the Social Insurance Institute when leaving Finland permanently.
Pregnant women in Finland visit the antenatal clinic regularly to see either the nurse or the doctor. The development of the foetus and the mother’s health is monitored at the antenatal clinic, and the mother is given information on exercise and diet. In addition, the father is allowed to take part in the antenatal classes and to be present at the birth to give support for the mother. Birth is usually given at the maternity ward of the county’s General Hospital. After the birth, the baby’s development is monitored at the child health clinic. The parents receive advice at the child health clinic and the children get their necessary inoculations. The school health care system takes care of the child’s health checks when the child turns seven.
Jyväskylä’s family clinics: www.jyvaskyla.fi/sote/terveys/neuvolat
Specialist nursing is also provided by each county. Because of this, the whole country is divided into several nursing districts. The nursing district of Central Finland is operating in Jyväskylä, which provides specialist nursing to those living in Central Finland. The General Hospital of this nursing district is located in Jyväskylä. There are also five University Hospitals providing specialist care and Jyväskylä comes under the district of Kuopio University Hospital. They can carry out the more unusual operations and provide care that requires specialisation.
There are five health centres in Jyväskylä that are funded by the county. These are placed at Huhtasuo, Kuokkala, city centre, Kyllö and Säynätsalo. www.jyvaskyla.fi/sote/terveysasemat
Different parts of the town are covered by nine separate
family health clinics www.jyvaskyla.fi/sote/terveys/neuvolat
and eight dental clinics www.jyvaskyla.fi/sote/terveys/hammashoito.
At school, the pupils have a school nurse they can see and a doctor’s examination is arranged every so often.
Each resident has been allocated their own doctor from the health centre for that residential area they live in. This is to secure an access to own doctor and the possibility for a continuing care. The appointment to the doctor’s surgery is made either over the telephone or by visiting the reception desk at the health centre.
The appointment can also be made to the health centre in case of acute illness. When required, difficult cases are directed to the city’s centralised Casualty at Kyllö Health Centre. Each health centre has also nurses that see patients. The nurses advise and support patients with their self-care and carry out necessary treatments.
Patients suffering from diabetes or other long-term illness can receive
some medical supplies from the health centres.
First Aid is mainly for those patients whose condition
demands urgent assessment and treatment that cannot be postponed without
endangering the safety of a patient. The staff at casualty department will
assess the urgency of each patient based on their condition and illness.
Primarily, patients are taken care off at their own local health centre
so that the information of the patient’s condition as a whole is
known by the patient’s own doctor and other medical staff as well
as possible.
Information about First Aid in English: www.jyvaskyla.fi/lang/emergency
You can also call the Fist Aid department for advice on sudden illness
or an accident.
Huhtasuo Health Centre, Nevakatu 1
Keskusta Health Centre, Tapionkatu 7
Kuokkala Health Centre, Syöttäjänkatu 10
Kyllö Health Centre, Keskussairaalantie 20
Säynätsalo Health Centre, Parviaisentie 7
Yhteystiedot: www.jyvaskyla.fi
Keskussairaalantie 20, tel. (014) 626 400
The centralised First Aid covering the whole of the city is situated at Kyllö Health Centre. It provides urgent first aid for patients whose treatment cannot be postponed to the next day. The centralised First Aid is open during the evenings from 4.00pm – 11.00pm, at weekends 8.00am – 11.00pm and for the more serious cases of illness, every day 8.00am – 11.00pm.
From 11.00pm – 8.00am at Central Finland General Hospital, Keskussairaalantie 19, tel. (014) 691 811
The health centre First Aid operates only at General Hospital of Central Finland during the night. This First Aid-service is only for those needing immediate treatment for an illness or an accident. All patient aged 15 or more needing medical treatment at the General Hospital will be charged a fee of 22 euros.
In 2005, an appointment fee of 11 euros will be charged on three first visits to the doctor. Patients under the age of 18 do not pay appointment fees. During 8.00pm – 11.00pm, Saturdays, Sundays and other public holidays, patients aged 18 and over pay a separate fee of 15 euros for visits to the centralised First Aid. There is no fee to visit a family health clinic or a nurse.
There are also private doctors and health services in Jyväskylä, but the care they provide is more expensive to the patient. The health services provided by the county are inexpensive, because a large part of the cost is covered by the tax revenue.
112 is the emergency number that can be called in case of illness and, for example, fire. The call is free of charge and there is no need for the area code, even when phoning from a mobile phone. A standby emergency number for the emergency exchange is (014) 331 9611. When suspecting a poisoning, you can call Poisons Information Service at (09) 471 977.
When making an emergency call, proceed in a following manner:
If possible, always make the emergency call yourself to make certain that the information has gone through to the right people.
[