8. Dec 2003 00:00 1. Feb 2004 20:09

Gross area reduction

In the 2004 national budget, the Norwegian Ministry of Health states that the total project cost must be reduced 10 per cent (NOK 500 mill.) in Phase 2 of the building programme.

The gross area for the entire hospital is therefore likely to be about 190 000 m2.
Recommended total hospital area was nearly 202 000 m2 in the Revised Overall Function Programme released in May.

During the budget debate, the national Parliament added a go-ahead for the planning of a Psychiatric Centre to be built as an integral part of the hospital development.

The reduction in area has sparked loud dismay among hospital doctors, who claim that building a hospital with fewer beds than today is folly when there are already patients occupying makeshift beds in corridors and it is known that there will be a sharp increas in elderly patients starting in 2015.

The regional administration points out that the new hospital is planned for a much higher throughput of ambulatory patients and day treatments than the old hospital. The development of medical science is another uncertainty factor. And - if more space is needed in 2015, there is still plenty of time to build it.