The project plan revisions will be submitted to political decision-makers. They will be reviewed by the buildings and public works subcommittee of the Urban Environment Committee of the City of Helsinki on 17 November. After that, decisions will be made by the political bodies of both the City of Helsinki and HUS. The Social Services and Health Care Committee of the City of Helsinki will also issue its opinion on the changes proposed to the project plan.
New facilities for forensic psychiatry in Ohkola
The greatest change to the project plan concerns forensic psychiatry facilities. It is proposed that the forensic psychiatry facilities will be built in Kellokoski in the Ohkola area, their current location, instead of in Laakso. The project would thus erect two new hospital buildings in the Laakso Hospital area and a third in Ohkola.
Other types of psychiatric hospital care and psychiatric care for children and adolescents will still be located in the Laakso area. The capacity for patients in psychiatric hospital care will remain unchanged.
Main building will be lower
Savings are also sought by decreasing the floor area of the main building – it will be one floor lower. The number of hospital beds would remain unchanged, but it would also have patient rooms for two or three people.
The previous plan only included single-person patient rooms. The psychiatry wards will still only have single-person rooms. Patient rooms for more than one person will be introduced in the Helsinki Hospital wards.
The City retains ownership of one protected building
Plans to renovate one old building would be discontinued, and it would be decoupled from the project. Deviating from the earlier plan, the building will remain in the ownership of the City and its designated use will be decided on later. The functions planned for the building will be housed mainly in other buildings in the Laakso area.
Savings are essential due to rising construction costs
As the plans and costs have been revised, it is proposed that the maximum price be increased. The price must be adjusted upwards mainly due to higher construction costs. It is also proposed that the maximum price will be tied to the building cost index. The maximum price would thus be reviewed once a year.
During the project plan approval phase in 2020, it was decided that the maximum price would be EUR 838 million at the November 2019 cost level. It is now proposed that the new maximum price be set at EUR 870 million at the November 2019 cost level (EUR 1,003 million at the current cost level).
Renewed hospital area in central Helsinki
The largest functions that will be located in Laakso will be psychiatric inpatient care for HUS and the City of Helsinki, as well as the Helsinki Hospital, with a total of over 900 hospital beds. In addition, there will be facilities for specialised neurological rehabilitation organised by HUS, as well as outpatient clinics, teaching and research. According to current plans, the project will be completed in 2030.
The final decision on updating the project plan will be made by the Helsinki City Council and the Board of the HUS Group in early 2023.
The client is Kiinteistöosakeyhtiö Laakson yhteissairaala, a limited liability real estate company owned 50-50 by the City of Helsinki and HUS. The construction project will be implemented as an alliance.
