Health care and monitoring of development
No matter what the special needs are, the growth and development of babies and small children are monitored at the child health clinic. At appointments, we can also discuss any questions or concerns that you have. At the child health clinic, your child will also receive the vaccines against severe diseases as recommended under the national vaccination programme.
The child health clinic employs nurses and doctors who work together with other social welfare and healthcare professionals. There are around 20 clinics in Helsinki, from which you can choose the one that best suits you and your family.
Learn more about the child health clinic and age-specific health check-ups
If a child falls ill with the flu or has an ear infection, they can receive treatment at a health station. Your health station is at first determined by your home address, but you can also choose to use the services of another health station.
Read more about our health stations
In some situations, the baby or child may need specialised health care. In Helsinki, specialised medical care is provided by the HUS New Children’s Hospital.
Read more about the New Children’s Hospital(Link leads to external service)
Special expertise and services are also available at the Disability Outpatient Clinic, which serves people with developmental disabilities who have received a decision for special care.
Read more about the Disability Outpatient Clinic
Healthcare fees
Child health clinic and health station services, as well as medical rehabilitation therapy services, are free of charge to persons under 18 years of age.
Hospital care is subject to a fee. If your child needs hospital care for more than seven days during a calendar year, no further fees will be charged for the additional days. You will need to provide the hospital with a statement about any previous treatment days.
Read more about healthcare fees
If you think that you cannot afford to pay a client fee, you may apply for a reduction in the fee or an exemption from the client fee.
Read more about the conditions for the reduction or non-recovery of client fees
If the client charges for health care and social welfare services and health care services grow too high for your family, the maximum payment limit may help you manage the expenses. The maximum payment limit, or ‘payment ceiling’, is the maximum amount a person can be charged annually for public social and healthcare services. The maximum payment limit is currently 692 euros per calendar year. It is your responsibility to monitor whether you exceed the payment limit. Once you have reached your maximum payment limit, you will receive most of the services that count towards the payment limit free of charge until the end of the year. Fees charged from persons under the age of 18 are added to and taken into account together with the fees charged from their guardian.
Read more about the maximum payment limit
A child's medicines also have an annual maximum limit on out-of-pocket costs, which refers to the maximum amount that you have to pay for your reimbursable medicines during one calendar year. Once you have reached the annual maximum limit, you are entitled to additional reimbursement. The purpose of the additional reimbursement is to keep the medicine expenses reasonable.
Read more about the annual maximum limit on Kela's website(Link leads to external service)