Minister of Health and Care Services Jan Christian Vestre and Minister of Defence Tore Sandvik during a press conference on emergency planning in the health and care sector on May 21, 2026 | Photo: Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services
Norway has instructed regional health authorities and municipalities to review and strengthen emergency preparedness plans for the health and care sector, including preparations for war and war-like situations. The government said the updated plans should include arrangements to make 7,000 beds available for military and civilian casualties if required.
The move forms part of wider efforts to strengthen national preparedness and resilience. According to the government, hospitals and municipalities had sought more guidance on what would be expected from health services in a wartime scenario and during major crises.
Minister of Health and Care Services Jan Christian Vestre said the government wants health services to improve readiness for a changing security environment.
“In a more unsettled world, our shared health service must also be better prepared. That is why today we are asking hospitals and municipalities to strengthen their health emergency preparedness plans. This is about ensuring security both for people’s health and for the country,” says Minister of Health and Care Services Jan Christian Vestre.
Minister of Defence Tore O. Sandvik said health preparedness planning should include high-level crisis situations.
“We are living in a time when the challenge landscape is more serious than it has been for several decades. Although it is not considered likely that war will affect Norway in the near future, the health sector must also have preparedness plans to deal with war and situations at the top end of the crisis spectrum. This includes a plan to prioritise beds for patients injured in war,” says Minister of Defence Tore O. Sandvik.
The government said the estimate of 7,000 beds was developed through work by the Committee for Civil-Military Preparedness Work. Authorities said the figure is intended as a planning baseline rather than a fixed requirement.
“We are now asking both hospitals and municipalities to use this figure as a basis for their further emergency preparedness planning. The figure of 7,000 is an estimate based on a number of assumptions and existing contingency plans, and must therefore be treated with caution. The actual need for bed capacity in a given situation will depend on the specific circumstances. However, the estimate gives our services a quantified expectation on which they can plan,” says Minister of Health and Care Services Jan Christian Vestre.
The government stated that the wartime beds would not be permanently active during peacetime.
“These are beds that are to be available in wartime. They will not be physically in place and operational in peacetime, but we need to have a plan for how the health services will adapt and mobilise these resources when they are needed. In peacetime, our shared health service must continue to prioritise resources so that people in Norway receive high-quality health services when they need them,” says Minister of Health and Care Services Jan Christian Vestre.
The updated requirements also include strengthening blood preparedness and developing plans for introducing nucleic acid testing in blood banks by November 1, 2026.
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