A new family center will open in Karhula – services will be moved under one roof

4.4.2025 | A new family center will open in Karhula on April 28. Services that were previously located in temporary facilities, including the Kymenlaakso wellbeing area’s maternity clinic, family counseling in Karhula, and child protection from Kotkansaari, will move to the new family center.

The family center will be located at the Karhula hospital, at Toivelinnankatu 2, Kotka. Access to the family center will be through the main entrance of the hospital. For maternity clinic visits, registration will now take place at the registration kiosk in the hospital’s lobby.

The meeting point of the Karhula family center will continue its operations at its previous location at Karjalantie 10–12.

Due to the move, the Karhula maternity clinic will be closed during the week prior to the family center’s opening, from April 21 to 25. Health nurses from the maternity clinic will make home visits to mothers who have recently given birth and their newborns during the closure week. Appointments for other maternity clinic services are available for babies and pregnant women. Non-urgent appointments will be handled once the maternity clinic reopens in week 18.

Group meetings and client guidance at the family counseling service will continue as usual. Individual client meetings can be scheduled during the move week at other locations.

There will be no interruptions to child protection services during the move, but delays may occur.

Two new family centers will open in Kymenlaakso in 2025

In addition to Karhula, a family center will also open in Kouvola later this year. This follows a decision made in 2019 by the Kymenlaakso social and healthcare municipal federation to establish two comprehensive family service centers in Kymenlaakso. The launch of the family service centers has been delayed due to the lack of suitable facilities for the services. However, with new construction and a reorganization of services, space has been freed up in Kotka and Kouvola, allowing the family centers to begin operations in 2025. More services will move to the Karhula family center in the coming years.

The aim of the family center initiative is to better integrate services for families with children, providing easily accessible, timely, and more effective support for families. Children, young people, and families will be able to access multiple services and expertise from a single location.

The family center network includes services for children, youth, and families from the wellbeing area, municipalities, organizations, and congregation.