Taskforce: New OUH becomes something – but we are concerned about the budget and time

Taskforce: New OUH to be completed – but we are concerned about the budget and timeline

The head of the committee in Region South Denmark is sleeping soundly at night and remains firm that the first patients will move in by 2027.

Thousands flocked when the new OUH was opened in September 2025. The curious were given a glimpse of what an intensive care unit will look like. All patients at the new OUH will have private rooms. (Photo: © Charlotte Pedersen, DR) 56 minutes ago

Construction is progressing, deep conflicts seem to be a thing of the past, and it appears that the new OUH will actually be completed and put into operation.

There are three important reasons that an expert group from the Ministry of Interior and Health has come up with after diving into the construction of what will become Denmark's largest new-built super hospital.

Jacob Steen Møller, former campus chief at DTU, is the spokesperson for the three-man high taskforce, which has delivered two reports on the new OUH, which were supposed to be ready in 2022.

The first report from the experts landed in March 2025, and it was followed in August by reports on how things are going. Both parts have been given exclusive access to.

- In terms of the quality of the project, it is very positive that there is progress in the project and that it is actually being completed. There is nothing that suggests that it will go in standstill, or that there will be serious conflicts or legal disputes, says Jacob Steen Møller about the construction, whose history is filled with challenges and trenches between the landlord and the contractor.

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The first patients

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Over the years, there have been many challenges, which DR previously reported on: Time plans have been moved, the economy has slipped, and there has been poor cooperation between Region South Denmark and the Italian total contractor OHPT (Odense Hospital Project Team), which consists of companies CMB/Itinera.

In November 2024, the region and the total contractor signed an agreement, which was supposed to settle problems and get the new OUH on track.

The construction of the new OUH is one of the super hospitals that the Ministry of Interior and Health has asked its special expert group to closely follow. (Photo: © Charlotte Pedersen, DR)

Region South Denmark decided to ask the ministry to expand the budget framework by nearly a billion - 985 million - so the budget runs up to 9.5 billion. At the same time, the region announced a new timeline, which says that the first patients can move into the hospital at the end of 2027.

But will the budget and the new timeline hold, the experts cannot say, it sounds from Jacob Steen Møller, who points out that he speaks with caution in the report that was delivered in August and in the knowledge that the experts had at the time.

- We are concerned about whether the timeline, which is in place, can hold. And we have therefore recommended that the landlord make its own assessment of whether the timeline can hold. The work has not been completed by the landlord, and therefore we are concerned about the timeline, explains Jacob Steen Møller.

Project director of the new OUH, Kenneth Holm, understands the experts' concerns and confirms that their recommendations "absolutely do not miss anything."

- Therefore, we have also taken them into account. For example, we are constantly making stage assessments (a detailed assessment of how far a construction project has progressed at a specific point in time, including the amount of work done, ed.) and monthly updates, so we have a good overview.

If you are not yet at your goal with the economy?

- Correct.

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Money in the bank

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Despite the fact that the new OUH is not yet finished with the economy of the project, there are no restless nights for Karsten Uno Petersen (S), chairman of the committee for construction, procurement and green conversion in Region South Denmark.

He admits that both time and the economy in the project are tight, but is convinced that patients will move into the hospital at the end of 2027.

- We have money in the bank. It's not as if we turn our pockets inside out every day. And the timeline, which is in place for both construction and the economy, it holds, sounds from the social democrat.

The new OUH is a gigantic project with a multitude of leadership and pipes and systems. Here is a look at the roof of the ward with beds, when the hospital was opened in September 2025. (Photo: © Charlotte Pedersen, DR)

Karsten Uno Petersen confirms that it is the reserve fund, which the experts are concerned about the size of.

- And we are looking at our budget and seeing if the reserve fund is robust enough, if unexpected events occur. It is a huge budget, and it is not something you do from one day to the next. But it is not something that disturbs my sleep, says Karsten Uno Petersen.

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Go out on the square

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According to the taskforce, it is important that Region South Denmark gets an overview of what is still missing at the new OUH, and how long it takes to get it out into the world. And that it is not something that should be left to the total contractor.

- The landlord's own people should go out on the square and assess the progress, and what is missing - that is, to make their own technical assessment of the size of the remaining work, says Jacob Steen Møller.

He emphasizes that the overview is closely related to getting a comprehensive overview of the economy and time, and that it is precisely for this reason that the taskforce takes hold of the two aspects.

Region South Denmark has not yet received clarification on whether the Ministry of Interior and Health will give the green light to expand the budget framework by 985 million.

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