They are still operating with a price of less than NOK 40 billion for the new Rikshospital and the new Aker hospital. So a difference of over NOK 10 billion. – It is difficult for me to say what the motive is, says Christian Grimsgaard. He is the Medical Association’s leading representative in Health South-East and sits on the company’s board. – But it appears to be an attempt to cover up the fact that there has been a sharp increase in costs, says Grimsgaard. Han and the other union representatives fear the consequences both for the patients in Oslo and other hospitals in Southern and Eastern Norway. PATIENT CUTTING: Christian Grimsgaard fears that savings must be made on patient care in order to raise money for new hospitals. Photo: Olav Juven / news Final decision today The board will today make the final decision to close down Ullevål and build new large hospitals in Gaustad and Aker. In his proposal to the board, managing director Terje Rootwelt writes that the hospitals will be built within a financial framework of NOK 36 billion. The figure is based on prices from January 2021, i.e. almost two years ago. It does not include uncertainty in the project. And the price of buying additional land at Aker is not included. According to news’s knowledge, only the latter amounts to a billion. In another board case, the figure has been adjusted upwards to June 2022 kroner. Then the price is up to NOK 39 billion. NEW AKER: The new hospital at Sinsen will be built where the old one was closed in 2010. Illustration: Team Aker Not the whole picture But this is far from the total picture. news has for a long time tried to find the total price tag and asked a number of questions both to Helse Sør-East and Oslo University Hospital (OUS). On Wednesday, the answer came from the information department of OUS: “Total for operation and investment, about 45.2 billion is linked to the Nye Aker and Nye Rikshospitalet projects, which includes the construction project itself (from the preliminary project), construction loan interest, non-construction-related ICT, construction-related ICT and land acquisition.” Passes 50 billion But it could be even more expensive than that. The sum of NOK 45.2 billion does not include a buffer for uncertainty. OUS confirms this. Such a buffer is quite common to include in large projects. And how great the uncertainty is, Helse Sør-Øst has made the consultancy company Atkins count on. They estimate the uncertainty in the project to be over NOK 5 billion. If we take the uncertainty into account, the price tag thus exceeds 50 billion. – Not unexpected – Not unexpected, says Christian Grimsgaard in the Medical Association. – These are very extensive projects in a construction market that is very expensive today. The employees’ organizations have long pointed out that what OUS is required to save to pay for new hospitals is completely unrealistic. – For me, it is completely impossible to imagine that this can be solved in any other way than by providing a reduced offer to the patients, he says. – Affects other hospitals And the fear that spending in Oslo will affect other hospitals is not diminishing. – I understand that all the projects in Health South-East which are planned later than Oslo University Hospital will be difficult to realize. – In the first instance, it applies to the new emergency building in Sørlandet, Innlandet Hospital, i.e. the new Mjøssykehuset, and construction stage 3 in Sunnaas, says Grimsgaard. Admitting risk The board of Oslo University Hospital agreed to the controversial plans two weeks ago. It happened against the votes of the employees’ representatives. There, the board acknowledged for the first time that there is significant risk in the project. – The majority of the board nevertheless considers that the risk of not building is even greater, said chairman Gunnar Bovim to news. – Then we will have problems with providing a good and reasonable offer in line with the population’s expectations, said Bovim. Christian Grimsgaard completely disagrees. He maintains that it is far less risky to preserve and develop Ullevål than to build the giant hospital in Gaustad. NEW BUILDINGS: Replacing Ullevål could cost over NOK 50 billion. Here from the new Rikshospital. Photo: The project group Nye Rikshospitalet – Everything is accounted for news has confronted Helse Sør-Öst with the figures. We have also asked them to comment on Grimsgaard’s statement about hidden costs. The response from the information department is this: “All relevant figures in connection with the preliminary project report for Nye Aker and Nye Rikshospitalet are well explained in the case papers for our board meeting on 16 December. Plenty of time has been set aside for processing this case. In this meeting, Christian Grimsgaard, like the other board members, will have ample opportunity to put forward his views. Out of respect for the board’s proceedings, we are not commenting beyond the content of the board’s case now.”
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New Oslo hospitals could cost over 50 billion – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
