Children are currently treated at the Lastenlinna or ‘Children’s Castle’ hospital. It is in poor condition and needs replacing, but the funding model for the new paediatric clinic has raised concerns about the lack of public financing for big projects.
The hospital is scheduled to open in 2017 and is expected to cost 160 million euros, with 40 million apiece coming from the state and from the Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district. A further 50 million euros of financing is hoped for from institutions such as pension firms and foundations, while 30 million euros is sought from public and corporate donations.
New funding model
It is a new funding model for Finnish public services, and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation is keen to take part. The foundation has donated 1.5 million euros to the project.
“The Wihuri Foundation wants to join in and support this kind of relevant societal initiatives,” said the chair of the fund’s board, Simo Palokangas. “Especially when you are talking about quality care for children and young people.”
The Wihuri Foundation is not alone. Banking concern OP-Pohjola has chipped in a million euros, bringing donations this week to 2.5 million euros. The total collected so far is 6.5 million euros, leaving more than 20 million still to gather before they hit the fundraisers’ 30 million euro goal.
All monies welcome
“This week has felt wonderful, really amazing,” said the chair of the Children’s hospital support association, Anne Berner. She believes there are more big donations on the way.
“We have received a lot of interesting connections and we have ourselves been active in seeking good donations for the project.”
Despite the support from big business, Berner believes it is important that a broad cross-section of society contributes.
“We think it is really important that this is a project for the whole country and as many citizens as possible donate amounts that are appropriate for them,” said Berner.