Health Care
Information about Health Care in Iceland and Vestmannaeyjar.
Icelandic Health Insurance Sjúkratryggingar Íslands - https://www.sjukra.is/english
After getting a kennitala, there is a six-month period in which we do not have health insurance. This period can be shortened by completing the "Application for health insurance" form on www.sjukra.is (you need to log in with electronic ID)
European Health Insurance Card/ Evrópska sjúkratryggingakortið - a card that says person is insured in Europe, more information about the card in English can be found at https://www.sjukra.is/english/health-insurance-abroad/european-health-insurance-card/. It can be ordered online and it is free.
Vestmannaeyjar Health Clinic and Hospital Heilbrigðisstofnun Suðurlands - https://www.hsu.is/
General Information: The clinic is located at Sólhlíð 10 and is open from 8-16 on working days. The general number of the institution is (+354) 432 2500. When ordering a doctor's appointment, you can ask for an interpreter by phone, just ask for it and specify the language.
Outside of opening hours: If you need help outside of opening hours, you must call the number 1700, before you come to the facility, this number will send you to the nurse center in Reykjavík, there you have to tell them where you are from, what is the situation and that you need contact with a doctor in Vestmannaeyjar. If there is an accident, please call 112.
Without an appointment: At the moment when individual does not have an appointment, one can come to the emergency room, also open from 8-15, wait there in the queue to see the nurse, and later, if the nurse decides, visit the doctor.
Pregnancy: When person needs health care during pregnancy, person goes to the midwife (ljosmóðir). Health care during pregnancy is free if one is insured at sjúkratryggingar. During pregnancy, it is necessary to go 2 times for ultrasound in Reykjavík around the 12th and 20th week of pregnancy. Nuchal translucency test (hnakkaþykktarmæling) is also offered to screen for genetic defects. This study is not mandatory, it is performed around 13 weeks of pregnancy and it is not free. All other tests (in most cases) are performed at the Vestmannaeyjar Hospital. You can get a refund for this trip to Reykjavik at the Sýslumaðurinn building at the Sjúkratryggingar Íslands window, if you bring in all your travel bills. One can get some information about the return here https://www.sjukra.is/english/social-insurance-in-iceland/travel-costs-within-iceland/.
Childbirth: Durning first pregnancy it is recommended to go to other clinics, because we do not have an anesthesiologist at Vestmannaeyjar Hospital and in case of severe complications, it may be necessary to transport the patient by airplane to Reykjavík, but if one were about to go into labor earlier and there were no complications, you can still give birth here, but this is not common. After delivery, the midwife visits the newborn several times and talks to new parents and supports them in the first steps of parenting. The contact number in an emergency to the midwife is (+354) 8979620.
Maternity / paternity leave: Individual applies for maternity leave at fæðingarorlofssjóður. Each parent is entitled to maternity / paternity leave. MAternity and paternity leave is 12 months total, 6 for each parent. Parents can give away 6 weeks to each other. Maternity/paternity leave can be spread over a longer period of time (24 months). More information about this can be found at http://www.faedingarorlof.is/