New HEALTH officially opened
Spring was in the air and in many of the speeches when New HEALTH – SDU’s new Faculty of Health Sciences – was inaugurated on 1 March 2024.
On the first official day of spring in 2024, 300 people gathered to celebrate the opening of SDU’s new Faculty of Health Sciences.
This significant milestone in the effort to connect the University and the University Hospital in Odense was celebrated in the Linking Zone with bubbles, macarons, smooth jazz from the Mydtskov/Nordahl Duo and a string of speeches.
A building that makes people smile
Ole Skøtt – who is the current dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and also held that position when the idea of New HEALTH was conceived in 2009 – began by welcoming both guests and employees.
In his speech, he explained how the welcoming design of the new Faculty of Health Sciences lives up to the expectations of both staff and students and brings smiles to their faces.
- We are really happy with the new building, which blends into our surroundings – the wooded area and Killerup Rende outside – and allows us to blend in with the other Faculties of the University, said Ole Skøtt.
He also welcomed the fact that students seem to feel so at home in the new building that they prefer the radiators and window sills for hanging out on – rather than the chairs.
High hopes
The other speakers also expressed high hopes for the 50,000 square metres of opportunities that is the New HEALTH.
The special atmosphere of the first day of spring and hopes for a new beginning infused the opening of New HEALTH, not least in the speeches of both Søren Vilby, chair of SDU's Board, and Bo Libergren, chair of the Regional Council of the Region of Southern Denmark.
- May this first day of spring, brimming with hope, mark the beginning of a decade of opportunities filled with health research and education of outstanding international class, innovative collaborations and significant advances in health, said Søren Vilby, Chairman of the Board
Looking forward to New OUH
All the speeches also expressed their gratitude to the many people who have contributed in different ways over the past 15 years to the construction of New HEALTH, the linking of SDU and New OUH and the visions of making Danish healthcare history.
And both SDU’s Rector Jens Ringsmose and Chief Medical Officer at Odense University Hospital, Bjarne Dahler-Eriksen, looked forward to the day when the New OUH is also completed so that the collaboration between SDU and OUH can reach a whole new level.
- Now we are eagerly awaiting the opening of the New OUH. And last but not least, I can’t wait for the day when the wall in the Linking Zone will come down and I will be saying ‘Mr. Hospital Director, tear down this wall’. Obviously, I’m not implying any other similarities between DDR and OUH, Rector Jens Ringsmose added, to the great amusement of the crowd gathered in the Linking Zone, which will eventually connect the University and the University Hospital.
After the speeches, all guests were offered a guided tour of the new Faculty of Health Sciences to experience first-hand the many square metres of welcoming design.
