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Hundreds in torchlight protest against the closure of Ullevål hospital

Ullevål Hospital.Photo: wikipedia.org

Hundreds of protesters will gather in the center of Oslo to make a torchlight procession against the closure of Ullevål and Gaustad Hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

“We protest against the closure of Gaustad Hospital, the breakdown of the specialist community at Rikshospitalet and the closure of Norway’s largest and most important emergency hospital Ullevål,” the Facebook event says.

In 2016, South-East Health decided to close Ullevål and to build a large regional hospital in Gaustad. In addition, a local hospital will be built at Aker.

The plans have been approved by Health Minister Bent Høie (Høyre/Conservative Party), but have been met with much criticism.

A total of 46 organizations stand behind the torchlight demonstration on Wednesday afternoon, among them all the political parties in Oslo, except Arbeiderpartiet (Labour Party) and Høyre. The two parties had a majority in the previous city council, but after the autumn election, the parties that want the preservation of Ullevål have a total of 32 out of 59 seats in the Oslo city council.

The torchlight procession will go from Jernbanetorget to Eidsvoll plass outside Parliament (Storting), and according to organizers will consist of the nurses’ drum corps, horses and hundreds of committed protesters.

“During the event in front of the Storting, we will make visible the messy process the management at Oslo University Hospital, Health South-East and Health Minister Bent Høies (Høyre) have been responsible for, a process of concealment, invisibility and trivialization of resistance and concerns,” the press release states.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

1 Comment on "Hundreds in torchlight protest against the closure of Ullevål hospital"

  1. It’s unfortunate hopefully the hospital is reopened. I think people may never understand the economic factors behind why it was closed in the first place, as well as the research.

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