Marit Lieng Appointed New CEO of Helse Bergen: ‘A Clear and Inclusive Leader’
It’s been summer, but there’s been little downtime at Helse Bergen’s offices. Now, the most important hire of the fall is in place. Marit Lieng is taking over as the new Chief Executive Officer – and she’s not coming from just anywhere. She’s one of the country’s top experts in her clinical specialty, and word about the new boss has been making the rounds in the hallways of Haukeland for a long time.
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 hospital’s heart and soul. I’ve spoken with people who work closely with her, and the same descriptions keep coming up: “Clear, but without raising her voice. Inclusive, but with a decisiveness that leaves a mark.”
From the Operating Room 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 reason the board chose Marit Lieng. She holds a doctorate from research on women’s health conditions, and her CV is packed with peer-reviewed articles in respected medical journals.
She has been deeply involved in issues like pelvic floor injuries, complications from C-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 in their shoes.
Now, she’s trading the operating theater for the negotiation room. It’s going to be a fascinating transition to watch. Especially because Helse Bergen is facing some seriously tough challenges ahead.
The Biggest Challenges Ahead
Taking the helm at Helse Bergen is no walk in the park. Budget pressure is real, recruitment struggles are global, and the demand for faster treatment isn't waiting around. I’d bet Marit Lieng has these three items at the top of her to-do list:
- Balancing the budget in a storm: Like every other hospital, Bergen is struggling to make the numbers work without compromising patient safety.
- Recruiting specialists: The battle for the best doctors and nurses – their minds and their hands – is fiercer than ever.
- The waiting lists: Those COVID backlogs need to come down, and political expectations are sky-high.
But this is exactly where I think her background 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 challenging budget round in Bergen is probably manageable.
A New Era for Haukeland?
Employees I’ve spoken with describe her as incredibly skilled professionally, but also as someone with “a very open atmosphere.” That might sound like a cliché, but in an industry where burnout is widespread, it’s crucial. She’s known for listening to staff – really listening – before making decisions.
It’s going to be incredibly exciting to see how Marit Christine Lieng shapes Helse Bergen going forward. Will she double down on research and education like she has in the past? Will she use the surgeons’ perspective to cut unnecessary red tape? One thing is certain: Marit Lieng is the leader Bergen needed right now – not a theorist, but someone who has seen patients up close and knows what actually works in practice.