Debate, Expression | Hospital structure in Innlandet and Denmark. Why is it so much more expensive?
Debate post This is a discussion post, written by an external contributor. The post expresses the views of the writer.
The preliminary estimate of the costs of building Mjøssykehuset is over NOK 12 billion. A replacement hospital for today’s Hamar hospital has been previously estimated to cost more than NOK 4.5 billion.
It is interesting to see how one of our close neighboring countries is building hospitals in a decentralized hospital structure.
After extensive regional reforms, Denmark is now divided into five different regions, each of which is responsible for, among other things, the hospital offer. Region Midt-Jylland covers a total area of 13,142 square km, i.e. approx. 25% of the area in Innlandet county. The region includes 19 municipalities with a total of just under 1,350,000 inhabitants. Aarhus University Hospital is the largest hospital in Central Jutland. Otherwise, it is a number of specialists in hospitals with extensive distribution of functions. It is a well-developed pre-hospital service in Denmark that includes both decentralized emergency clinics, air ambulances and car ambulances.
In Midt-Jylland in Denmark, they have recently opened a new regional hospital, Gødstrup, which will be a specialized hospital for more than 300,000 inhabitants from the municipalities of Herning, Holstebro, Ikast-Brande, Lemvig, Ringkøbing-Skjern and Struer municipalities. They want 2,500 free parking spaces!
The new hospital is 148,000 square meters and will have 409 single-bed rooms and other treatment rooms and modern equipment.
3,500 employees work at Gødstrup regional hospital. The capacity is calculated for
· 140 new posts per day
· 330 patients hospitalized at the same time
· 1,500 visits to the outpatient clinic on a normal weekday
· 400 diagnostic examinations on a normal weekday
The construction cost is stated at 3.15 billion Danish kroner! The costs of moving the hospital business from the hospitals in Holstebro and Herning to the new regional hospital are estimated at DKK 500 million.
In addition to this new hospital in Herning municipality, the Regional Council for Central Jutland is building Viborg Hospital into a new emergency hospital of 120,000 square meters. Here, there will be 98 single-bed rooms and, in addition to a large emergency clinic, will include a specialist clinic for insured spinal cord injury. This emergency hospital is estimated to cost 1.16 billion Danish kroner! The new Viborg hospital must also coordinate the specialized hospital departments in Lemvig, Skive, Hammel and Silkeborg.
Is there anyone who can give an explanation for the enormous cost difference for hospital construction in the Inland and in Midt-Jylland? Why is division of functions between hospital units a bigger problem in the Inland region and in Denmark?
Maybe it would have been an idea with a studio? The new “Gødstrup hospital” is holding an open house for information and viewing on September 4! I’m going there. More people signing up?