Mjøssjukehuset will be Norway’s third largest hospital, located outside the major cities of its home county.
On Monday, it became clear that the county’s new major hospital will be located in Moelville, a town between Hamar, Jijovic and Lillehammer.
The hospital will employ around 4,000 people. Additionally, the house will have 600 bed posts.
Now many fear recruiting for the large hospital, located in the fifth-smallest town inland, with a population of fewer than 4,460.
Tired already
In order to fill the hospital with people with the right professional skills and professional environment, the Norwegian Nurses Association in Inlandet now demands that the recruitment issue be taken seriously.
– It will be the joker, the biggest challenge, believes Ida Hoiby, county manager of the Norwegian nurses association Inlandet.
“We know we’re entering a period where we’re getting fewer nurses, and it’s unfortunate that they’re not staying in the profession,” she says.
Recruitment: Høiby believes that the key to avoiding recruitment problems lies in ensuring good working conditions with good working hours arrangements, professional environment and pay.
Photo: Private
Norway lacks 4,650 nurses and 700 specialist nurses A business study of the language.
There is now a shortage of 355 nurses and midwives locally alone.
According to SSP The nursing shortage will increase in the coming years.
No matter where the hospital is located, Hoiby believes the recruitment challenge applies.
– We will have fewer nurses in the future, so whatever alternative you have, recruitment will be challenging, he says.
They have lost more than 20 percent of their workforce
A new large hospital was ready in 2015, in Calnes, outside Srpsburg.
Øyvind Moksness, company trustee of Østfold Hospital, says they lost a fifth of their staff when they moved to a new hospital eight years ago.
– Mainly they went to the municipality, some chose to retire early, others changed careers, says Moxnes.
Moving process: Øyvind Moksness, business trustee of the hospital in Østfold, was involved in the moving process when the hospital in Fredrikstad moved to the new main hospital in Kalnes outside Sarpsborg in 2015.
Photo: Emil Johansson / NRK
Today they also struggle with recruitment challenges, but he doesn’t think the hospital is out of town.
– Now other things come into play, for example working conditions, says Moxnes, not necessarily location.
When the new big hospital is built in Innlandet, he believes it is important to make the staff as attractive as possible.
– There should be good working conditions and they should be able to get to and from work in a dignified way.
– Then the employer and the municipality or city should help make the city attractive and attract people. It should be a collective lift, says Moxnes.
Too small: The hospital in Kalnes, outside Srpsburg, opened in 2015, but the new, larger hospital soon found itself too small.
Photo: Gorm Kallestad
Residential workplaces
Hamar’s mayor, Einar Pusterud (PBL), believes there are many drawbacks to placing the new, larger Mjøssjukehus in Moelv. He specifically points to recruitment challenges.
– Two independent reports have claimed that one was poorly recruited for Moelv. An understaffed hospital typically provides poor care, Busterud says.
Criticism: Hamar’s mayor, Einar Pusterud, criticizes the construction of Mjøssjukehuset in Moel.
Photo: Lars Erik Schrefsrud / NRK
District President Høiby wants Sykehuset Innlandet to be a strong and good employer now and in the future.
– So it is important to have workplaces where nurses live.
– Do they live in Moelv?
– Some people live in Moelv, but we live more widely. We live in cities and small towns around cities, says the district head.
Conclusion: Hospitals in Hamar and Zijovic will be closed. There will also be a Sanderud Psychiatric Hospital in Stange and a Reinsvoll Psychiatric Hospital in Vestre Toten. The new main hospital in Innlandet will be in Moelv.
Description: Marte Iren Noreng Tren/NRK
Ulla Hiktem, a professor of community planning, thinks that can change.
The professor believes the decision to locate the hospital between the three coastal towns will have a lot to say about where people will live in the coming years.
– I guess that Moelv will be a relatively large city in the future, he says.
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