Location Sweden, Stockholm Funding Public hospital Emergency department Yes Affiliated university Karolinska Institute | Care system Public Hospital type Teaching Helipad Yes | |
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Address Gävlegatan 63, 171 64 Solna, Sweden Similar Södersjukhuset, Saint Göran Hospital, Uppsala University Hospital, Odenplan metro station, Solnabron | ||
The New Karolinska Solna University Hospital (NKS) (Swedish: Nya Karolinska Solna), is the new university hospital to be built in Stockholm, Sweden, replacing the present Karolinska University Hospital. Estimated completion is December 2015.
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NKS is also Sweden's first public-private partnership (PPP) project in healthcare. The process for contracting, planning and building the hospital has been heavily criticized by an independent review published by Timbro. When the hospital was planned, there was an inadequate assessment of the costs of renovating the old Karolinska and the focus was on architectural design and only after a competition had been held was there feedback from a medical perspective. The hospital is smaller than the current Karolinska and does not meet the future needs of an ageing population with increasing healthcare demands. The contracting of the hospital was also not performed correctly as there was only one bid on the tender. The cost of the hospital is currently estimated to 50 000 million SEK and this does not take into account the costs of increasing the number of beds in other Stockholm hospitals or alternatively keeping the old Karolinska to have sufficient number of hospital beds for future needs. The building costs widely exceed those of other, similar projects in Europe and the US. The contracts and details of the New Karolinska have been classified as confidential information despite the bill being picked up by Stockholm taxpayers.
The PPP process
The New Karolinska Solna is being built as a PPP-project.
This means that not only construction of the building, but also facility management, maintenance, and service is to be provided for a period of approximately 25 years following the completion of the building. Also, financing of the project is to be included in the project that is procured by the Stockholm County Council.
Background
A number of reports and decisions from 2001 and forward established the need for a new university hospital, to replace the present Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.
To construct a new hospital has been considered to be more cost effective, compared to renovating and refurbishing the present facilities, spread over a large area in more than 40 buildings. Building a new hospital will also facilitate a new approach to healthcare implementing modern ideas and practices.
In April 2008, the decision was made by the Stockholm County Council to build a new university hospital in Stockholm. It was also decided that the operations of the hospital shall be carefully evaluated, and a new modern approach to healthcare be applied. In June 2008, it was decided that the new university hospital will be built using the PPP (or PFI) model which includes also financing as well as management of the building after the completion.
Timeline
Organization
The procurement and planning of the New Karolinska Solna University Hospital is managed by the Stockholm County Council and the New Karolinska Solna Administration. Head of the project is Lennart Persson who is a professor of neurosurgery at the Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden.