According to the merger notification, AS Ida-Tallinna Keskhaigla and AS Lääne-Tallinna Keskhaigla, Tallinn Ambulance Service, and AS Tallinna Hambakliinik will be merged into a single group. The unified hospital organization is set to begin operations on 1 January 2028.

According to AS Tallinna Haigla board member Dr Arkadi Popov, the purpose of the merger is to improve the quality of care across Northern Estonia. “The creation of Tallinna Haigla provides an opportunity to develop strong centres of competence and improve cooperation between different hospitals. Today, similar services may be fragmented across different institutions, whereas a unified organisation will help coordinate care more effectively and reduce duplication. As a result, the patient benefits most – care pathways become more logical and the quality of treatment improves,” said Dr Popov.

The goal of establishing Tallinna Haigla is to consolidate expertise across different medical fields and make the patient care journey more seamless than before. This means patients will reach the right specialist faster, and both medical technology and the expertise of specialists will be used more efficiently in organising care. It will also improve opportunities for investment planning and the development of clinical services.

The merger of hospitals creates conditions for a healthcare system that can better respond in the future both to growing demand for care and to shortages of healthcare professionals.

After receiving merger approval, work will continue on developing the functional masterplan of Tallinna Haigla, which will define the structure of care pathways, the division of responsibilities between hospitals, and the location of various services in the future hospital network. The further development of the Tallinna Haigla medical campus and the use of existing buildings will also be planned.

The consolidation process also aims to achieve savings through the centralisation of support services. This includes personnel, communications, finance, IT, and procurement systems. A unified management structure will reduce administrative burden and allow more resources to be directed toward developing healthcare services and new investments.