Management

The Finnish Red Cross Blood Service is the only blood service organisation in Finland. Blood services are authorised and supervised by the Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea, which operates under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The Blood Service is also authorised for pharmaceutical wholesale, tissue centre activities, production of cell therapy products (ATMPs) and laboratory work. The Blood Service is part of the Finnish Red Cross (FRC) and has a separate administration.

The Blood Service’s management group in October 2023.
Management Group of the Blood Service: Willy Toiviainen, Katarina Stendahl, Minna Mäki, Pia Westman, Johanna Castrén, Johanna Nystedt, Heikki Myllyniemi, Jarkko Ihalainen.

In between the FRC general assemblies and council meetings, the highest authority in matters regarding the Blood Service is vested in the Board of the FRC, which is also responsible for the activities and finances of the Blood Service. The Board of the FRC appoints the Blood Service’s Directorate.

The duties of the Directorate of the Blood Service include strategic planning and supervising the safety and effectiveness of operations. The Directorate comprises a chairperson, a deputy chairperson and four members. Together, they represent multidisciplinary expertise within the areas of the Blood Service’s activities. The Secretary General of the organisation is entitled to attend and speak at Directorate meetings.

At the beginning of 2023, the Chairperson  of the Directorate of the Blood Service was Piia Aarnisalo and the other members were Harri Jokiranta, Maija Laaksonen, Tarmo Martikainen and Eero Rämö. The composition  of the Directorate changed in 2023. At the beginning of 2024, the Chairperson was Piia Aarnisalo and the other members were Anna Maksimainen, Tarmo Martikainen, Ruut Rissanen, Juha-Petri Ruohola and Minttu Viitanen. The members received no payment for attending meetings.

The Chief Executive of the Blood Service is in charge of the implementation of strategy and the operations of the Blood Service and their further development. The Management Group supports the Chief Executive in these duties.

The Chief Executive of the Blood Service in 2023 was Pia Westman. Changes to the organisation began on 3 April 2023. At the end of 2023, the Management Group was as follows: Johanna Castrén (Blood donations), Jarkko Ihalainen (Medical services and quality management), Heikki Myllyniemi (Digital development and services), Minna Mäki (Research, product development and new services), Johanna Nystedt (Blood products), Katarina Stendahl (Financial services and responsibility) and Willy Toiviainen (Communications and Human Resources).