The hospital in Simrishamn is Skåne's smallest with just over a hundred employees. Pia Persson has worked there as a nurse since she left school in 1978.

- I left high school on Thursday and started working on Monday, says Pia Persson, adding that she was born in the hospital.

Many with her are worried about what will happen when Region Skåne's current agreement with Praktikertjänst expires in April 2021.

- Patients ask me what is going to happen, says Pia Persson.

Previous closure threat

In the 1990s, politicians in the region wanted to invest in the hospital in Ystad and put it down in Simrishamn. That was not the case and since the turn of the millennium, the hospital is run privately.

The current contractor Praktikertjänst took over in 2014 but has had difficulty obtaining profitability in the business. The company now wants to develop the hospital and collaborate more with the municipalities in Österlen to increase profitability.

- There must be an opportunity to invest and reinvest in the long term. Otherwise, it's not interesting, says Helena Ozolins, CEO of Praktikertjänst in Simrishamn.

The Social Democrats have wanted to take back Simrishamn in public, but the proposal has been voted down.

- It would have been more stable to run the hospital itself, says Anna-Lena Hogerud (S), regional council in Skåne.

New agreement this spring

In the spring of 2018, Region Skåne started a procurement but rejected the tenders that came in.

- Why can't I go in, says Gilbert Tribo (L), regional council in Skåne.

The regional council chose to extend the agreement with Praktikertjänst for another year, until the end of April 2021.

What happens after that date is unclear. A new procurement will start after the New Year and be completed in the spring. The new agreement should be ten years, according to Gilbert Tribo (L).