< Blood Service News - 31.08.2011

Martti Syrjälä Takes Charge of Blood Service

The new head of the FRCBS, Doctor of Medicine and Surgery Martti Syrjälä, began in his new post on 1st September 2011. He joined the FRCBS from HUSLAB, where he was Chief Executive. Syrjälä values the activeness of blood donors and the Blood Service's expertise. These form the basis of future blood component therapy.

Syrjälä regards the FRCBS as a key player in healthcare. Hospital procedures such as surgery, childbirth and aggressive cancer treatments depend on reliable blood component therapy.

- In terms of skills and quality, the FRCBS is a world leading service. I'm excited at the prospect of joining this top-notch unit.

Based on long service in executive positions in hospitals and the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), Syrjälä is highly familiar with the Blood Service's operating environment. He is also acquainted with the practical work of FRCBS, which was his first employer in a medical science capacity 30 years ago. In his younger years, Syrjälä assisted in blood donation, blood component production and laboratory work. As a Bachelor of Medicine, he also served on night and weekend duty at the Kivihaka Blood Service Centre in Helsinki.

Syrjälä is grateful to Finnish blood donors for their valuable help on behalf of patients. He views valuing blood donors as the cornerstone of the Blood Service's operations.

- Without active blood donors, we would not be able to provide such effective blood therapy in Finland. Blood is needed in hospitals every day and cannot be artificially produced. The Blood Service's task is to ensure that this gift from blood donors safely and reliably reaches the patients who need it, he affirms.

Syrjälä views securing sufficient blood products for Finnish patients as a key challenge for the future. The general increase in the pace of life poses a challenge to all voluntary activities, including blood donation. The potential number of donors will also be affected by changes in the population's age structure.

- We must continuously strive maintain blood donation’s current status as a means of helping people.

Martti Syrjälä received his doctoral degree from the University of Helsinki in 1987. He also holds specialist degrees in clinical chemistry and laboratory haematology. In 1994, Syrjälä was appointed Docent of Clinical Chemistry at the University of Helsinki.

Martti Syrjälä has held various executive positions in hospitals and laboratories of both the Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUCH) and the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS). In 2004, he was appointed Physician-in-Chief of Clinical Chemistry and Haematology at HUSLAB (HUS's laboratory services) and, in 2008, Director of the HUCH Hospital District. Martti Syrjälä was CEO of HUSLAB from 2009.

Syrjälä is a family man, with three grown-up sons. In his spare moments, he enjoys sporting activities and time spent in natural surroundings.