Former Health Minister Bent Høie (H) feared Health Director Bjørn Guldvog was not strong enough and therefore proposed replacing him with another.
Updated only now
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When the pandemic hit Norway, Høie instead wanted his ministerial adviser Bjørn-Inge Larsen to take the helm.
Larsen refused and instead recommended involving former FHI director Geir Stene-Larsen and Espen Rostrup Nakstad to strengthen the team.
It appears in the new book by the former Minister of Health “Unrest in the time of the crown”which comes out on Saturday.
The inner drama took place two and a half years ago.
On 9 March 2020, Høie had a meeting with Health Director Guldvog at the Health Directorate and FHI Director Camilla Stoltenberg where they discussed what they should do in terms of measures. The former would get tough, the latter would go a little further, according to Høie.
WATCH THE VIDEO: Do you remember Høie’s speech to young people?
– Refused to lower his feet
The disagreement led him to express to his ministerial adviser Larsen after the meeting that “this will not work”: he was concerned if Guldvog was strong enough to lead in a crisis like this.
“He refused to put his foot down when Stoltenberg and the FHI professionals disagreed with him and the Directorate of Health,” writes Høie.
Høie is one of the many health experts who have picked up the pen over the past year: Deputy Director of Health Espen Nakstad, FHI Director Camilla Stoltenberg and head of the Oslo city council Raymond Johannsen (Ap) has previously expressed his views on the pandemic.
Høie’s book was written in collaboration with Jorunn Litland, who was Høie’s speech writer at the Ministry of Health.
“We need to strengthen the team around Bjørn Guldvog”
Høie refers to Guldvog as a man who doesn’t like conflict and is eager to reach an agreement, which are basically good qualities when you have time for arguments.
“But we didn’t have it now, with the infection spreading rapidly in early March,” writes Høie.
Høie then asked his ministerial advisor, who had previously been director of health, to take over the management:
“Bjørn-Inge Larsen faded. He didn’t think it was a good idea. But the minister had seen the same thing as me and had come up with a solution.” We need to strengthen the team around Bjørn Guldvog, “he said, the book says.
Health director Guldvog tells VG he hasn’t read the book:
– But I take with me that Bent Høie concludes that I performed above expectations. It always feels good. I share the assessment that leadership in the Norwegian Health Directorate needed to be strengthened in the situation we were facing, he writes in an email.
Guldvog’s modified vision
The former health minister admits that he has done everything to get involved:
“The interference was almost unknown. But the medical director did not react negatively, “writes Høie.
Instead, he seemed to appreciate reinforcements.
“My vision of Bjørn Guldvog changed completely after this. When he had the right people around him, he became a clear leader himself. The decision to close the country and the results of the closure probably also strengthened his self-confidence. I was happy that the Council of Ministers did not endorse my proposal, but provided a solution that made the medical director the leader we needed, ”Høie writes in the book.
– Almost unheard of
So they involved former FHI director Geir Stene-Larsen and Espen Rostrup Nakstad, who then worked at the CBRNE center at Oslo University Hospital.
However, this didn’t quite go according to plan: Stene-Larsen contracted the crown in March 2020 and barely got to his seat before both he and several people around him were to be quarantined. So it was Nakstad who took the media by storm and became a media favorite, writes Høie.
VG has been in contact with Høie, who doesn’t want to comment before the book’s launch.
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