Marit Lieng appointed new CEO of Helse Bergen: ‘A clear and inclusive leader’

It's been summer, but there's barely been a quiet moment in the offices of Helse Bergen. Now, the most important appointment of autumn is locked in. Marit Lieng takes over as the new Managing Director, and she's not coming from just any old place. She's one of the country's top clinicians in her field, and word about the new boss has been doing the rounds at Haukeland for a while.

Let's get one thing straight from the start: Marit Christine Lieng is no bureaucrat brought in from a consulting firm. She's a surgeon. She's a researcher. And perhaps most importantly – she knows the heart and soul of the hospital. I've spoken to people who work closely with her, and the same words keep coming up: 'Clear, but without raising her voice. Inclusive, but with a decisiveness that leaves an impression.'

From the operating theatre to the executive office

It's a long way from holding a scalpel to running one of the country's largest health trusts. But that's exactly the core of why the board chose Marit Lieng. She has a PhD in research on women's health, and her CV is packed with peer-reviewed articles in respected medical journals.

She's been deeply involved in issues like pelvic floor injuries, complications from caesarean sections, and the development of minimally invasive surgical techniques. In other words: she knows what it takes for staff to succeed, because she's been there herself.

Now she's swapping the operating room for the negotiation room. It'll be an interesting transition to watch. Especially because Helse Bergen is facing some bloody tough challenges ahead.

Here are the biggest challenges on the horizon

Taking the helm at Helse Bergen is no walk in the park. Budget pressure is real, recruitment difficulties are global, and the demand for faster treatment isn't going away. I'd wager Marit Lieng has these three items at the top of her to-do list:

• Balancing the books in a storm: Like every other hospital, Bergen is struggling to make the numbers add up without compromising patient safety.
• Recruiting specialists: The fight for the best doctors and nurses is fiercer than ever.
• The waiting lists: Those COVID backlogs have to come down, and political expectations are sky-high.

But this is where her background really comes into play. Marit Lieng has led complex research projects in Gaza and Palestine – a collaboration with a major university and local health authorities. If you can navigate humanitarian crises and war zones to improve maternity care, then a tough budget round in Bergen is probably manageable.

A new era for Haukeland?

Staff I've spoken to describe her as incredibly skilled professionally, but also as someone with 'a relaxed and open atmosphere' around her. That might sound like a cliché, but in an industry where burnout is practically an epidemic, it's crucial. She's known for listening to her staff – truly listening – before she makes decisions.

It'll be incredibly exciting to see how Marit Christine Lieng shapes Helse Bergen moving forward. Will she double down on research and education like she has in the past? Will she use the surgeons' perspective to cut through unnecessary red tape? One thing is certain: Marit Lieng is the boss Bergen needed right now – not a theorist, but someone who has seen patients up close and knows what actually works in practice.