In construction projects, we are proceeding in accordance with our long-term renovation and new construction program for hospital buildings.
In the current investment program for 2020–2023, we have reserved in excess of EUR 700 million for hospital construction and renovations.
Due to the difficult situation in public finances, we are prepared to revise the investment plans for the next few years so that the most crucial construction projects in terms of HUS strategy and operational continuity can be implemented in any case.
New construction and design mainly at Meilahti
Our construction investments showed a concentration of functions in the Meilahti hospital area and its immediate vicinity. The most significant of our major construction projects is the Bridge Hospital. Work is already in progress, and the building will be completed in 2022 and commissioned at the beginning of 2023. The project is on schedule and on budget.
Two new hospitals were being designed for the immediate vicinity of the Meilahti hospital area in 2020: Laakso Joint Hospital and the Oak Hospital.
Laakso Joint Hospital is a psychiatric and somatic hospital jointly created by HUS and the City of Helsinki for our shared use, located in the Laakso hospital area owned by the City of Helsinki. We are carrying out the construction project in several phases, the first of which is the planned new building for psychiatric inpatient wards in 2026. The project plan was approved in April 2020, and preparations were started for the founding of a joint hospital real estate company. The Joint Hospital is not included in the HUS investment program; it will be financed through the proposed real estate company.
The Oak Hospital is a new building to be completed between the Meilahti hospital area and the current Skin and Allergy Hospital in 2024. It will mainly house ophthalmological specialty functions. Implementation planning was completed in 2020, and construction will begin in 2021.
We also began the design work for a major new building in the Jorvi hospital area in 2020. This new inpatient ward building will house all of the inpatient wards and obstetrics facilities of Jorvi Hospital and most of its imaging facilities as well.
Long-term action plans for construction
We completed long-term facilities and action plans for the Meilahti and Peijas hospital areas in 2020. These plans compile renovation and new construction needs for each building along with proposals for action for the next 10 to 15 years. A similar plan for the Porvoo hospital area will be completed in 2021. Extensive renovation and restoration programs are also underway at the hospitals of Jorvi and Hyvinkää in order to prepare for the modernization and expansion of the building stock.
Most of our ongoing major renovation projects are in the Meilahti hospital area. The most advanced of these is the renovation of the Park Hospital, i.e. the former Children’s Hospital, converting it into a hospital for surgical procedures for adults. The first phase of the project will be completed in 2021. We also began the phased renovation of the lower part of the Oncology Clinic building. We completed a project plan for the renovation of block A of the Women’s Hospital, and our Council approved it at the end of 2020.
Increased efficiency and environmental responsibility in construction
Our subsidiary HUS Real Estate collaborated with HUS Facilities Center and HUS Environment Center to develop better practices for construction and building maintenance.
In project management for construction projects, we further developed the joint project management model, which fosters enhanced cooperation between the client, the contractor and the designers. The model helps ensure better sharing of information between the parties involved, thus improving the predictability of the project as a whole.
We have aimed to improve cost efficiency and quality for instance by implementing systematic information management and leveraging digitalization. We attained international recognition in 2020, as our Bridge Hospital project was deemed the world’s most impressive public construction project based on the building information model (BIM) in the the Tekla Global BIM Awards.
We are also increasingly paying attention to the life cycle impacts of our properties. For instance, as construction techniques and practices evolve, we have been updating our key guidelines in order to better consider environmental and energy matters in constructions. We also systematically explore energy saving opportunities in new construction and renovation projects of different sizes, as well as in the maintenance and renovation of buildings, with the designers.
In the interests of promoting our carbon neutrality goal, we began to explore and develop a model for means of low-carbon construction.