Akershus University Hospital


Akershus University Hospital is a Norwegian public university hospital in the Greater Oslo Region. It is located in the Lørenskog municipality in the region of Viken, just east of the Norwegian capital Oslo. It is a teaching hospital and one of two university hospitals affiliated with the University of Oslo, alongside the larger Oslo University Hospital. The hospital has around 10,000 employees and a capacity of around 1,000 beds.
In November 2008 a new hospital building designed by Danish architecture practice Arkitektfirmaet C. F. Møller opened. Setting new standards for hospital architecture in Norway, at the time of its construction, it was claimed to be the most modern in Europe.

History

Akershus University Hospital was officially opened on 15 May 1961 as the Akershus Central Hospital. The area on which it was built, Nordbyhagen in Lørenskog eventually became developed with more homes and apartments, nursery schools, convenience store and several buildings with associated with hospital functions. In 1978, the hospital began its second major phase, and it has since been built a series of individual buildings and minor additions to the hospital.
The Norwegian Parliament decided in 1999 that the then Central Hospital of Akershus would be a teaching hospital. The first teaching programs started in 2001 and it was promptly escalated so as to give the medical students proper teaching for the entire duration of their study. Today the "faculty division" is one of the ten departments affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo. Since 2002, the university hospital figured prominently in medical research and medical education.

The new hospital

In 2003 the Storting gave the go-ahead for a new University Hospital in Akershus to be built. The executive board at the Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority determined on 18 December 2003 that construction work would start in March 2004. It was to be designed by the Danish architects from the firm C.F Møller and was estimated to cost around $1.7bn. On 1 March 2004 the then Health Minister Dagfinn Høybråten undertook the first sod. The hospital was completed 1 October 2008, and boasted to be the most modern hospital in Europe.

The research center

After Akershus University Hospital became a teaching hospital in 2000 a separate Center for Research was established. Since then, the research center received an increasingly central place in the hospital. Both somatic and psychiatric departments have contributed to the positive development.
The Hospital aims to ensure that both the research and teaching at the hospital maintains a high professional level, and that the basis of the activity must be the hospitals own patient population. The research aims to provide results that are useful for both diagnosis and treatment. It should be progressive by adopting the opportunities that modern medicine and technology offers, and be cost effective.
Research takes place across organizational structure of the hospital, and in all departments. It is responsible for approx. 250 scientific publications per year, in the world's leading journals. Recently an article published in Time magazine received international attention.

Arts and decorations

Like all large public construction projects in Norway, Akershus University Hospital was constructed along with a special art project. The budget for the art project was estimated at a total of around $7 million. With a hospital building of 137,000 square meters, one of the strategic choices was to focus on getting few and building-integrated masterpieces. The art collection currently includes twelve major works, which are intended and designed for their specific and unique space. Eleven of them are located in key public spaces; in the hospital's main communications artery, nicknamed the glass street, and one is out in the parkland. All works is thus available to everyone. Besides the twelve building-integrated works the art collection includes some newly acquired autonomous works, such as drawings, paintings and photographs, as well as a new exhibition of a selection of photos from the old hospital building.
The hospital's function is primarily to provide treatment and care. The hospital-space is a public space where communication and interaction between function, art, architecture, and the public was important. The intention and aim was that art should relate to the hospital in a meaningful way and add to the treatment process by soothing the visual experiences of patients as well as staff as research has shown that experiencing art has positive health effects and helps treat illnesses such as hypertension. The hope was that the art would activate in different ways and open to different cognitive and sensory experiences. Another goal has been that art should have its own integrity and independence to the building's architecture and design. The artists desired for it to be read and experienced as art, even if it is integrated into the building's architecture.
Many of the original works is of renowned artists including; Troels Wörsel, Tony Cragg, Julie Nord, Per Sundberg, Ernst Billgren and Vesa Honkonen.

Specialties

with sub-specialties, Neurology, Pediatrics, Children Habilitation, Physiotherapy.
Surgery with sub-specialties Orthopedics, Otorhinolaryngology, Anesthesia, Obstetrics and gynecology.
Clinical Chemistry and Nuclear Medicine, Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Microbiology, Pathological anatomy, Radiology
Adult and Children Psychiatry, Adult Habilitation

Directors