The present day Karolinska University Hospital is the result of a 2004 merger between the former Huddinge University Hospital (Huddinge universitetssjukhus) in Huddinge, south of Stockholm, and the Karolinska Hospital (Karolinska sjukhuset) in Solna, north of Stockholm.

To construct a new hospital has been considered to be more cost effective, compared to renovating and refurbishing the present facilities, spread over a large area in more than 40 buildings.

[7] In June 2008, it was decided that the new university hospital will be built using a public–private partnership model which includes also financing as well as management of the building after the completion.

The project, however, was met with controversy, and the process for planning and building the hospital has been heavily criticized for poor construction planning, execution, management and corruption.

[8][9][10][11] The first departments to move into the new hospital building in 2016 were the cardiovascular and pediatric services.