{"id":96925,"date":"2026-06-01T16:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T16:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/96925\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T16:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T16:08:09","slug":"lasse-lehtonen-resumes-role-as-kela-chief-after-sick-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/96925\/","title":{"rendered":"Lasse Lehtonen resumes role as Kela chief after sick leave"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lasse Lehtonen has returned to his role as director general of Finland\u2019s Social Insurance Institution, Kela, after a period of sick leave<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Lehtonen resumed his duties on 1 June and said he would focus on advancing the organisation\u2019s development work together with staff and the board while ensuring Kela continues to deliver services efficiently.<\/p>\n

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In a statement issued by Kela, Lehtonen thanked employees for maintaining operations during his absence and said the institution\u2019s core work had progressed well during the first months of the year.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to strengthen cooperation with Kela\u2019s personnel and board and move forward with Kela\u2019s important reforms together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Kela administers Finland\u2019s social security system and provides benefits and support to residents in a range of life situations. The organisation faces a changing operating environment shaped by pressures on public finances, geopolitical developments, demographic shifts and technological change.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lehtonen said Kela would continue implementing its long-term strategy, which focuses on expanding digital services, improving efficiency and adapting its expertise to future needs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue the work outlined in Kela\u2019s strategy by developing targeted, digital and efficient services, making use of technology and renewing our own expertise. This will help ensure the implementation of social security in the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lehtonen also referred to the medical treatment he received during his leave and thanked those who supported him during his recovery.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI received excellent care during my sick leave and now return to these important duties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

During Lehtonen\u2019s absence, Kela\u2019s operations were led by Kari-Pekka M\u00e4ki-Lohiluoma, who served as acting director general.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Kela is one of Finland\u2019s largest public institutions and plays a central role in administering benefits including pensions, family support, student aid, sickness allowances and unemployment-related payments.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

HT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lasse Lehtonen has returned to his role as director general of Finland\u2019s Social Insurance Institution, Kela, after a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[87],"tags":[13605,158,50269,49173,113,42413,42411,50267,1672,50268],"class_list":["post-96925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-helsinki","tag-digital-services","tag-finland","tag-finland-welfare-system","tag-finnish-social-security","tag-helsinki","tag-kari-pekka-maki-lohiluoma","tag-kela","tag-lasse-lehtonen","tag-public-administration","tag-social-insurance-institution-of-finland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116675720472267674","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}