Tønsberg municipality’s decision to close 18 long-term places at Hogsnes health center has triggered a wave of strong emotions.
The move, which according to the municipality will save NOK 7.5 million and reduce the coverage rate for nursing home places to 14 per cent, will affect employees, patients and relatives alike.
Although municipal manager Frode Hestnes assures that no existing places will be lost, and that the reorganization will prepare the municipality for the demographic challenges of the future, the news has triggered a flood of anger and despair among Tønsberg’s residents.
In social media and in the comment section, there is now sharp criticism of the decision. Many people wonder what this will mean for the oldest and most vulnerable in the municipality.
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Closing 18 long-term places at Hogsnes health centre
Calling it “horrible”
In 2023, a smiling mayor stood for the opening of the new health centre. The prestige building at Hogsnes replaced, among other things, the nursing home at Træleborg.
Several readers are reacting to the fact that the building, which began in 2020, had a cost frame of around NOK 550 million, and signaled the largest contract Tønsberg municipality had ever entered into.
PRESTISJEBYGG: On Monday 16 January 2023, Hogsnes Health Center was officially opened. Former mayor Anne Rygh Pedersen was a cord cutter.
Photo: Aleksander Limkjær
But it is far from the first time the operation of Hogsnes health center has caused reactions. The latest development has shocked many of the newspaper’s readers. So far, the news has received over 140 comments.
They openly share their concerns about what this will mean for the offer in the health and care sector.
Marianne Larsen writes the following in the comment field on Tønsbergs Blad’s Facebook page:
“Once again we see that money is more important than people. The elderly and sick are reduced to spreadsheets and savings measures, while the municipality talks about “necessary measures”. It is provocative to see how those who have spent a lifetime contributing are now pushed around because it is cheaper. This is not dignified care for the elderly, it is pure deprioritization disguised as responsible economics. The consequences are not borne by the municipality, but by the patients, employees and relatives.”
The comment has received 84 likes.
Another writes: “I AM HUGELY DREADING getting older than I am. Has a mother who lives alone, and sees how problematic life has become, and how much the family is needed for most things. A BIG SHAME TO PUT DOWN.”
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Double room at Hogsnes
Another case that caused reactions was in July. The municipality then announced that some residents could experience having to live in double rooms during a transition period.
The reason was that the municipality wanted to terminate the agreement on the purchase of 84 private nursing home places, because the municipality wanted to save money, and because the municipality has enough care places of its own to offer.
The reactions were not long in coming.
“Shameful. A double room in the last phase of life is as undignified as it gets.”, writes one of the readers.
STAY AT HOME: Elderly care in Tønsberg will have fewer all-day places in nursing homes and more help in the home, said municipal manager Frode Hestnes in August 2024.
Photo: Emira Holmøy
Six days after the news became known, municipal manager Frode Hestnes came out with a clarification that there was no question of long-term places or that it was a permanent solution.
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The nursing home case has caused reactions: – We do not intend for anyone to live in a double room
Eight places are “paused”
When the newspaper in November published the news that eight places at the health center were to be suspended until Christmas, on the basis of the municipality’s financial situation, there was once again great commitment.
In this case, Frode Hestnes clarified that this will not affect long-term places either.
ROOM: Pictured is one of the rooms at Hogsnes Health Centre.
Photo: © Aleksander Limkjær
In the information letter to the employees at Hogsnes, it was specified that patients from the hospital may experience being placed in double rooms, if there are not enough free places in single rooms.
In the same case, it is known that Tønsbergs Blad learns that the use of double rooms is part of the reality at Hogsnes health centre:
“According to Tønsbergs Blad’s experience, there was a shortage of short-term places at the health center at the time, and on several occasions patients were placed in double rooms.”
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The municipal cuts continue: Placing patients at the health center in double rooms
Stands uncomprehending
Over the course of a year, the operation of Hogsnes health center has been up for debate and on the newspaper’s agenda. The long-term places have so far been “protected”, but now half of the department is being demolished.
Several express strong frustration, while others do not understand the latest decision. Some feel fear.
“(…) I feel both enraged and frightened that it is possible to treat such vulnerable people in this way,” writes one, while another writes: “Yes, it’s best to die with my shoes on, I can only say that I’m terribly afraid of getting old and not being able to fend for myself in Tønsberg municipality.”
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