They were only going to stay for 1 year but have now worked at the healthcare center in Vík for 40 years.

It was in 1985 that Helga Þorbergsdóttir and Sigurgeir Már Jensson started working at the health clinic in Vík. Originally they planned to try the job for a year – but now, 40 years later, they are still in the region and the work is still full of new challenges.

We sat down with Helga to review their careers, changes in their workplace and the experience of working together as a couple.

What led you to work in Vík 40 years ago? “ When Sigurgeir was finishing his medical school, there was a district obligation. This meant that doctors had to work in rural areas for several months in order to obtain a medical license. This was done for two purposes. On the one hand, and probably mostly to staff rural areas, and on the other hand, to give doctors experience in such work. Sigurgeir had a specialty in medicine, but when he took the district obligation in Dalvík, he found that working in health care appealed to him. In 1985, a call was made for a doctor and nurse at the Healthcare Centre in Vík, and we decided to work for one year. 40 years later, we are still trying and still bring interesting subjects every day.”

How has the workplace changed in these years? “ When we moved to Vík, the operational arrangements of health clinics were such that each clinic was an independent entity with a clearly geographically defined district and the management of the clinics was appointed by the local authorities of the villages that the clinic served. The management and employees contacted the Ministry of Health directly about aspects of the clinics’ operation. The clinic in Vík was serving the residents of Mýrdalshreppur, the old East Eyjafjallajökull district, and it was traditional for Álftverjar to seek services in Vík. Now all health clinics in South Iceland from Höfn to Þorlákshöfn are merged under the HSu brand and the executive board of the merged institution is based in Selfoss. The medical district’s catchment area is broadly the same, but what used to be a quiet rural district with less than 1000 inhabitants is now one of the most popular tourist destinations, the country is full of people and probably tens of thousands of people often in the area. It is in the nature of things that stress increases and calls increase. Demographic factors have also changed with rapidly growing tourism, so that the majority of the population in the region is now of foreign origin. A greater emphasis on prevention and improved access to more professions within the health clinic has strengthened the operations. It was a great visionary effort by the health authorities in the eighties to build health care services throughout the country, with continuity and safety of the service in mind. This structure needs to be nurtured and developed in line with the needs of the population and the latest knowledge.”

Helga Þorbergsdóttir, Director of Nursing in Vík, Baldvina Ýr Hafsteinsdóttir, Director of Nursing at HSU and Sigurgeir Már Jensson, Chief Medical Officer in Vík. Photo by Harpa Elín Haraldsdóttir.

How is it to work together in the same place for so long? “ These years in Vík have flown quickly and we find the relatives of time. We don’t feel like we’ve been working for so long, but at the same time we’ve experienced a lot of change and had incredibly eventful careers. We like working together and we’ve been blessed to have the right to have top-quality people working with us. To always be on the roster and ready to react to whatever comes up makes the job a lifestyle to some extent. At work we are professionals and a happy couple at home.”

What has been the most fun about working together? “ We usually enjoy being in company with each other, we are very different, we stand together closely, but not in the shadow of each other. It’s a strength in working together that we know each other so well.”

Helga is also a nurse with a postgraduate degree in ambulance transport.

“For example, we have often found in acute calls how good it is to be able to work quickly without many words and to know each other’s strength. We have an untold collection of memories of many extremely happy and often humorous ones, but we also have many memories of disasters and great sorrow, so it’s good to have a loyal soul mate in the process.”

Is there anything that stands out for you after all these years in the health care system? “ Appreciation is probably the word that best describes our feelings when we look back over our years in the region. We were extremely well received when we came and warmth and trust have characterized communication.”

What has kept you in the job for so long? “ The content of our work, the people who come to see us and nature in all its glory play together in this symphony.”

It is also worth mentioning that Helga Þorbergsdóttir, the nurse director of HSU in Vík í Mýrdal, was honored with a knight’s cross on New Year’s Day 2024 for her contribution to health care and municipal and social work in her hometown and is well on her way to that. It is also nice to report that their daughter Margrét Lilja Sigurgeirsdóttir is a nurse practitioner at the health care center in Vík.