Organisation

The committees of the FSHS include the FSHS Council, the Board of Trustees and Service Region’s Management Groups. The Board of Trustees is responsible for the operations of the FSHS. The person in charge of operative management is the Managing Director. The FSHS Management Team assists the Managing Director in managing operations.

Our activities are guided by the principles of good governance as well as general efficiency and financial requirements. As a foundation, our organisational model enables speedy decisions and therefore flexible adaptation to changes required by society. Unlike other private entities, a foundation does not have members, owners, shareholders or partners.

The FSHS Board of Trustees

The decision-making power and responsibility for the activities of the FSHS lie with the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees is tasked with directing and developing activities and ensuring the appropriate organisation of activities and finances.

The Board of Trustees has a minimum of six and a maximum of 12 members whose mandate period is two calendar years. National Union of University Students in Finland and University of Applied Sciences Students in Finland have each the right to choose two members of the Board of Trustees. The personnel of the Finnish Student Health Services can select one member. In addition to these the delegation has the right to choose at most seven members for the board.

The Managing Director and members of senior management are appointed by the Board of Trustees. The Managing Director is responsible for the management of the FSHS as authorised by the Board of Trustees. The Managing Director also acts as a presenter of matters to the meetings of the Board of Trustees.

The FSHS Council

The Council has a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 30 members. Members of the Council are appointed for two calendar years at a time.

National Union of University Students in Finland has the right to appoint nine representatives of which seven are named from student unions which belong to the FSHS’s area of activity. University of Applied Sciences Students in Finland can also appoint nine members of which seven are appointed by the local student unions in affiliation to the universities of applied sciences. The Ministry of Education and Culture, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, the personnel of FSHS, Universities Finland UNIFI, the Rectors’ Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences can each name one representative to the Council.

The Council meets twice a year for its Spring and Autumn Meetings. The Spring Meeting discusses issues that include the annual report of the Board of Trustees and adopts the financial statements. The Autumn Meeting discusses about the budget and the action plan, appoints the Chair, Vice Chair, secretary and certain other members of the Council if necessary, and appoints the Chair, Vice Chair and other members of the Board of Trustees if necessary.

Service Region, Management Groups

The FSHS operates in five service regions and in each of them operates a regional management group appointed by the foundation’s Board of Trustees.  Information regarding the management groups can be found from the service unit’s websites.

The Management Group consists of a char and a vice chair as well as at least seven and at most eight members. They are tasked with monitoring their region and changes in their operating environment, health promotion and community health work. The management group decides on the opening and reduction of service units as well as other matters of regional significance. The management groups cooperate with local universities, universities of applied sciences, student unions, health authorities and other actors with significance to student health care.