Trade union representatives sound the alarm about the crisis in hospitals in Norway. All money must be used for operations, and investments are put on hold. But not the new hospitals in Oslo. In order for them to be built, money must be saved. Much money. It also affects hospitals elsewhere in the country. – Now we run the risk of Oslo emptying the entire piggy bank, says Ståle Clementsen, head of the Association of General Practitioners. Have to pay for new hospitals themselves The reason is that the hospitals have to pay for new buildings themselves. Unlike most other public services, hospitals are run as businesses. See explanation below: It also means that politicians cannot decide to give money to build new hospitals. The enterprises must instead take out loans. To get it, they themselves have to provide equity capital of 30 percent. The price tag for the new Oslo hospitals is at least 40 billion. That means 12 billion in equity. Emptying the savings account Oslo University Hospital (OUS) cannot save that much on its own. Therefore, they have to borrow money from the “community fund” to Health South-East: the region’s hospitals pay into a kind of internal bank. By New Year, it will be 13.6 billion. When hospitals need equity capital, they can borrow from the joint fund. When the economy in hospitals is as tough as it is now, they get to save less. This also applies to OUS. Instead, they have to extract more from the “piggy bank”, fears Clementsen. – Then all the money will be gone for many, many years to come. Leader Ståle Clementsen of the Association of General Practitioners believes that the Oslo development will eat up all funds for new hospitals for years to come. Photo: Olav Juven / news The consequence may be that the coffers are empty when other hospitals are to be built. For example, Mjøssykehuset in Inlandet. Over the years, Sykehuset Innlandet has paid in and built up “money in the bank”. Money that could instead disappear to the Oslo hospitals, Clementsen believes. – Then Innlandet will not get its hospital. Turning over every stone In Oslo, they are now trying to turn over every stone to be able to allocate money for construction. Severe cuts have been announced, including in mental health care. – We do not think the population thinks that there should be cuts in mental health now. But that is what these new buildings bring with them, says union representative for the psychologists at Oslo University Hospital (OUS), Birgit Aanderaa. Birgit Aanderaa is the union representative for the psychologists at Oslo University Hospital. She reacts to the fact that they have to cut back to save money for a new hospital. Photo: Bård Nafstad / news To remedy the situation in Oslo, the other hospitals must contribute more. Despite blood-red numbers. Some offers are only available in OUS. Therefore, other hospitals have to send patients there. They will have to pay more for that next year. In this way, OUS receives an extra 115 million, and can hopefully cut a little less. While the other hospitals receive yet another increased expense. For Innlandet alone, this results in an additional bill of almost 16 million. On top of a heavy deficit of 110 million. – Will other hospitals be built Health Sør-East rejects that the Oslo hospitals will eat up the entire pot for construction. They have plans for construction at several hospitals outside Oslo, says Acting Finance Director Line Alfarrustad. – And we intend to implement them – but high cost growth means that it will take longer. Among the projects underway are a new psychiatric building in Kristiansand and a new hospital in Drammen. But the economy is demanding. And projects that are not yet underway may be postponed: – Some of the planned projects may be postponed, but specific decisions will be made when processing each project. Helse Sør-Est RHF’s acting financial director Line Alfarrustad Photo: Helse Sør-Est When the national budget was presented, the government asked the health organizations to consider postponing investments. They also said no to giving loans for, for example, the necessary renovation of hospitals in Ålesund. Because of the economy. Have to cut back on new buildings But the plans in Oslo continue as before. When the finances of the hospitals are as tough as they are now, the brakes should be stepped on, Clementsen believes: – It is difficult to understand why the Oslo plans must be carried out at all costs when you see that everything stops and is reassessed in the rest of the country. The new hospitals will be ready in ten years at the earliest. By then, OUS will save 1.7 billion annually. And the savings are not over when the new buildings are put into use – far from it. 1.5 billion is the sum that must be saved each year to pay interest and installments. For mental health, this means 200 million new cuts when they are in place in the new building. – It’s a way of pushing the bill to future generations, says psychologist union representative Birgit Aanderaa.
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Trade union representatives warn that new Oslo hospitals may lead to cuts at other hospitals – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
