On 14 August, AuntMinnieEurope.com published a "rebuttal" by Dr. Juhana Hakumäki, PhD, to my column about the construction of the New Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm.
I understand his need to clarify some of the points I made in my column. Still, I would like to remind him that this was an opinion column, and, as he also mentions in his opening statements, this scandal is deeply political, has been intensely debated by the Swedish and Scandinavian people, and is permanently and tensely discussed in the media.
Dr. Peter Rinck, PhD, is a professor of radiology and magnetic resonance. He is the president of the Council of the Round Table Foundation and the chairman of the board of the Pro Academia Prize.The affair combines an alliance of Swedish politicians, Swedish civil servants, architect companies, Skanska (one of the biggest construction companies in Sweden and worldwide), Swedish Hospital Partners, Coor Service Management, the consultancy company Boston Consulting Group, and some of their specially created offspring for this project in Sweden and Luxembourg.
During the last few years, I have talked to people -- high-ranking and not-so-high-ranking -- and I have read the newspapers and other media reports, protocols, and hundreds of tedious but very probing pages containing the official evaluation by the University of Stockholm.
I have written down my findings in a detailed column on Rinckside.org: The prime minister's wife builds a new hospital. It also contains the necessary references. AuntMinnieEurope.com published a shortened and edited digest version on 7 August: What's gone wrong at the Karolinska?
The real culprits are those who were responsible for building the new hospital -- the overspending, the inept decisions, the incompetence, etc. They have gone into hiding and rely on smoke-screen tactics, while those trying to run the dysfunctional hospital are faced with operational problems beyond belief and major financial restrictions.
I stand by what I have written. Still, at one of my next visits to Sweden, I will happily meet with Dr. Hakumäki to talk about his concerns and how he and the rest of the medical staff of the hospital are dealing with the situation.
Dr. Peter Rinck, PhD, is a professor of radiology and magnetic resonance and has a doctorate in medical history. He is the president of the Council of the Round Table Foundation (TRTF) and the chairman of the board of the Pro Academia Prize.
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