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Work can begin next fall. Union representatives believe the plans have been advanced.
Kristin Hovland, leader of the Oslo Medical Association, was one of those present who conducted an appeal outside Rikshospitalet on Monday. Photo: Olav Olsen
On Tuesday, the Oslo University Hospital (OUS) board meeting will likely say yes to starting the preliminary project to build a new large hospital in Oslo.
So far, the issue has only been investigated, but it has taken several years. This is the beginning of a billion dollar project that will last more than a decade.
The workers’ unions are against it. They caution against going ahead with the process now. On Monday they showed it through a brand in the Gaustad area. The new hospital will be built next door and will be integrated with Rikshospitalet.
To accommodate it, parts of Rikshospitalet need to be demolished and several important districts relocated. OUS wants to start working on this next fall.
On Monday, shop stewards and politicians huddled on the lawn in front of the hospital. With appeals and flags, they marked the start of the “Save Rikshospitalet” campaign.
Missing an overview?
– The plans here have been advanced. The consequences have not been adequately investigated or clarified. Already next autumn, this will have far-reaching consequences for the treatment of patients and employees here, says Bård Eirik Ruud.
He is the county leader of the Norwegian Nurses Association (NSF) in Oslo, and is supported by Kristin Hovland. She is the leader of the Oslo Medical Association.
– The zoning plan has not yet been published. That means a long delay. One of the arguments of OUS and Helse Sør Øst’s side for not looking for other alternatives has been that it will delay the process. Now the process is delayed. Then you can take that opportunity to see where we are now, he says.
What he is referring to is that work on a zoning plan at the Planning and Building Agency in Oslo has been relatively short. The processes leading to city council decisions often take several years in such large cases.
Bård Eirik Ruud and Kristin Hovland believe that the consequences of a development in Gaustad are not sufficiently clarified. Photo: Olav Olsen
Ruud says that hospital employees have worked in groups to clarify needs when building a new hospital. He and Hovland are both skeptical that there is not a full review of this work.
– It is important that we get an overview of what the needs are in the future. This is how we can build hospitals robust enough that they can last the next 50-100 years, says Hovland.
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“The nail is very low in the coffin at Ullevål hospital,” wrote commentator Andreas Slettholm a year ago.
A giant project
OUS has been working on the plans for a new hospital structure in Oslo for many years. In addition to a new large regional hospital, a large local hospital will be built in Aker.
The current Ullevål hospital area will be sold to partially finance the construction.
The majority of the Oslo city council has protested against the plans. The same is true, among others, with the Conservative parliamentary representative Michael Tetzschner of Oslo, although his own government supports them.
Last year, first the Helse Sør-Øst state health trust said yes, and then the Storting. The total cost in the state budget for 2020 was estimated at NOK 37 billion.
But there will be a number of additional costs.
There are several different drawings of how the new hospital is conceived, but they are all variants on the same theme: A tall, large complex located next to Rikshospitalet (left). Photo: Ratio / ARCHITEMA / Oslo University Hospital (ill.)
The alternative, building a new hospital in the current Ullevål hospital area, has never been fully studied. But last year OUS carried out an alleged elucidation of the alternative, which concluded that the solution was worse.
An independent professional group asked several questions about it and submitted a counter report.
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He criticized the hospital’s plans for Oslo. He is now the new Senior Director of the Oslo Hospital.
I won’t waste my time
Bjørn Atle Bjørnbeth, CEO of OUS, believes that it is best for OUS to start the pilot project now.
– In this phase, we will obtain many of the clarifications requested by the union delegates, he says.
Work is now underway to ensure that the plans at Rikshospitalet have no consequences for the treatment of patients. Here, there are plans for the participation of employees, shop stewards and security services, he also says.
Bjørn Atle Bjørnbeth, CEO of Oslo University Hospital (OUS), advocates the rapid progress of the project. Photo: Stein J. Bjørge
Bjørnbeth says the project is large and includes most of the hospital units.
– Therefore, it is understandable that it can be perceived as demanding to see the interrelationships and how the different reports individually affect each other, he says.
The director points out that a decision by the Storting is the basis for the construction of new hospital buildings in Aker and Rikshospitalet.
– This, together with a loan commitment of around 30 billion, is a task for us in the same way that we will carry out good patient care, education and research.
According to the director, the framework for the project is now NOK 32.02 billion (at 2018 prices). Additionally, there are costs associated with purchasing land at Aker.
– Why is it correct to start the preliminary project at a time when there is still no certainty that the Municipality of Oslo says yes?
– The zoning plan is ultimately a political decision. Oslo politicians will make that decision in a year and a half. I think we should spend that time on the preliminary project, says Bjørnbeth.
