Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital |
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Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital is on a hillside, with a good view over Oslofjorden.
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| Geography | |
| Location | Nesodden, Norway |
| Coordinates | 59°50′04″N 10°38′25″E / 59.83444°N 10.64028°E |
Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital is a special hospital located in Nesodden, Norway. It is part of a larger health group called Helse Sør-Øst. Sunnaas is the biggest hospital in Norway that focuses on helping people recover from serious injuries or illnesses. This type of care is called physical medicine and rehabilitation.
The hospital helps patients with many different health challenges. This includes people recovering from brain injuries, serious accidents, burns, or certain diseases. They also help people with cancer or nerve problems. The goal is to help patients get back to their daily lives. This includes early recovery programs and helping them return to activities. The hospital also has smaller clinics in Oslo and Nesodden. They also do important laboratory research.
Research is a very important part of what Sunnaas does. The hospital has its own research team. They work with medical students and their own health staff to learn more about rehabilitation.
Contents
History of Sunnaas Hospital
How the Hospital Started
Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital was started in 1954. It was founded by a couple, Rolf (1916–1979) and Birgit Sunnaas (1915–1992). Interestingly, neither Rolf nor Birgit had a medical background.
From the very beginning, the hospital worked closely with Ullevål Hospital in Oslo. Most of their first patients came from there.
Helping During the Polio Epidemic
In the early 1950s, there was a serious outbreak of polio. Polio is a disease that can cause paralysis. Many young patients needed long-term treatment and help to recover. Sunnaas Hospital was asked to take in as many of these patients as they could.
Rolf Sunnaas hired an experienced nerve doctor named Nils Sponheim. Dr. Sponheim became the first head doctor at Sunnaas. He helped convince health officials in Oslo that Sunnaas should become a full hospital. It would focus on medical rehabilitation, working with Oslo City Hospital.
Over the next 20 years, Dr. Sponheim and his team made Sunnaas the best rehabilitation center in Norway. They had many doctors and physical therapists working there.
Growth and Changes Over Time
The hospital continued to grow bigger. By 1975, it had 247 beds for patients. In 1979, the Sunnaas couple gave the hospital to the city of Oslo as a gift.
However, the city wanted the government to help pay for the hospital. This meant the hospital would also take on more complicated illnesses. In 1995, Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital became a University hospital. This means it also helps teach new doctors and nurses.
After some big changes in Norway's hospitals in 2002, Sunnaas became its own health trust. This means it manages itself under the Helse Øst group. The person in charge of the hospital today is Einar Magnus Strand.
You can find a more complete history of the hospital in a book. It was written for the hospital's 50th anniversary in 2004. The book is called Mitt Soria Moria Historien om Sunnaas sykehus by Egil Houg.
