– This is an issue that is extremely important to us, and which will come to the table in a possible government negotiation with the Labor Party. We will put all our energy into the Labor Party changing its position, Vedum told Dagbladet.
Dagbladet meets Vedum at Ullevål Hospital’s area, which has been a political arena since the plan for closure and land sale became known in 2016.
The Center Party will make sure to keep the issue warm throughout the election campaign and not least in government, if the voters want.
Now he challenges Labor leader Jonas Gahr Støre:
– The Labor Party and Støre must think through whether it is market thinking that should be used as a basis, or social thinking, and what is wise to do in a generational perspective. He must be honest about why he wants to close Ullevål hospital.
Shocked by Støre: – Empty of ideas
– Must turn
– And he must listen to the trade union movement. The employees here, the Norwegian Medical Association, the Norwegian Nurses’ Association and the Trade Union, are against closing down and selling the plot. Yes, Støre’s own county team, Oslo Ap, has now also turned around. So I recommend that Støre does not see it as such a big defeat if Sp gets a breakthrough for this in government negotiations, says Vedum
In February, the Labor Party decided to keep Ullevål Hospital as one of three hospitals in Oslo. In the Storting, the Labor Party voted earlier this spring for an SP proposal to postpone the sale of land. But Helse Sør-Øst’s plan for a large hospital at Gaustad has the sale of the Ullevål site as part of the financing.
Take the uprising seriously
– I fundamentally disagree with the whole premise, that we must finance large state hospital buildings with real estate speculation. Selling some of the most attractive plots in Oslo to finance hospital construction is business economics, short-term thinking and not societal thinking, says Vedum.
– Self-deception
He rejects that it is necessary to sell the plot to be able to afford to expand Aker and Gaustad.
– It is within the health roof model you have chosen. It’s a straitjacket. When pursuing politics, one must think in a generational perspective. It is completely unwise for the community to relinquish control of one of the most central plots in Oslo, because you need money here and now. That you need the money is self-deception. The state has money, it is about political prioritization, says Vedum.
If there is a change of government, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum will split counties that do not want coexistence. Nikolai Astrup thinks this is a bad idea. Video: Lars Eivind Bones
view more
–
He warns against splitting up the professional environment at the emergency room at Ullevål hospital.
– It is one of the foremost trauma environments in the country, which you want to shake, says Vedum.
Following a proposal from the then hospital director Bjørn Erikstein, Minister of Health Bent Høie in June 2016 set a so-called target picture for Oslo University Hospital: a regional hospital with local hospital functions at Gaustad, a local hospital at Aker and a cancer hospital at Radiumhospitalet. According to this plan, the largest hospital in the current structure, Ullevål, will be closed. The 300-acre plot will be sold to finance new construction. The new regional hospital for Oslo is estimated to cost NOK 38 billion, and will be completed in 2030.
The plan has met with massive opposition from the employees and their trade unions, and in 2019 Erikstein resigned after a lack of trust from the employees.
LAVER KAMP: Sp leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum promises a fight to save Ullevål hospital and the valuable plot the hospital is on. He says the issue will be very important in the election campaign and in any government negotiations with the Labor Party. Photo: Bjørn Langsem / Dagbladet
view more
Vedum also believes that the population development in Oslo means that the hospital will need increased capacity in the future and thus a much larger area than the Gaustad site provides.
– Then you have to ask yourself: Is it wise for Norway to sell the Ullevål site? Then it is sold forever. It is also a democratic challenge when the majority in Oslo City Council opposes. There is also great opposition to it being built as high as planned at Gaustad. Ultimately, you have to come up with a state plan to run over the municipality completely, says Vedum.
Finally decided – it will be a new large hospital
– Scrap the enterprise model
Vedum believes that the Labor Party should scrap the entire enterprise model, which according to the SP leader is the ultimate expression of New Public Management (NPM) in the public sector. This thinking, which, among others, Tony Blair in the United Kingdom fronted, entered Norwegian politics and administration through Jens Stoltenberg’s first government.
Jonas Gahr Støre took part in LO state’s conference at Gol in November 2019 a settlement with NPM and what he called “perverse goal management”. He announced a trust reform for the public sector, which will also be adopted at the Labor Party’s national meeting a couple of weeks ago. But the Labor Party will keep the enterprise model for the hospitals.
Self-critical Støre: Has been the party’s party
– Is it a corporate board that will govern, or is it the elected representatives? I mean the elected representatives. I will do everything in my power to stop the plans to close Ullevål and sell the plot. The other parties get to say what they want, then people get to vote for the party they agree with, and then the election determines the balance of power, says Vedum.
Vedum kick
Health policy spokesperson Ingvild Kjerkol (Labor Party) responds on behalf of Støre to the challenge from Vedum.
– The Labor Party will build a new Aker hospital as a large emergency hospital with specialized functions, and a new regional hospital in Gaustad. Where will Sp take the professionals from if they are to have three emergency hospitals in Oslo plus Radiumhospitalet and the non-profit hospitals Diakonhjemmet and Lovisenberg hospital? From the rest of the country, Kjerkol asks.
DISAGREE WITH VEDUM: Ingvild Kjerkol (Labor Party). Photo: Nina Hansen / DAGBLADET
view more
– It can not be the case that Oslo should have higher specialist coverage than the rest of the country. We in the Labor Party are uncompromising on behalf of the patients. The hospitals in Oslo are old. We need modern buildings. I hope to get Vedum involved. If he does not want to postpone the construction of Aker, then. It will be a big breach of promise, says Kjerkol.
– But the Labor Party wants to close Ullevål hospital and sell the site to finance new hospital buildings?
– We have not said what we will do with the plot. The most important thing now is to get started with Aker. There we need professionals. And then there must be financial sustainability in hospital development. But what will happen to the Ullevål site is part of the next phase. It is not necessary to take a position on sales until after 2035. The Labor Party will at least ensure that there will not be a private hospital there, which someone is worried about, says Kjerkol.
– Vedum also challenges the Labor Party on the enterprise model for the hospitals?
– The Labor Party will change a number of things in the current hospital model. But it is crucial that we retain state ownership and regional organization. We do not want a state hospital directorate, as Vedum wants, which will only lead to more centralization.
–
