Aubagne: Casamance wants a partnership with the public hospital

Following the announcements made at the beginning of the week by the management of the public hospital and representatives of the Regional Health Agency (ARS), yesterday was the turn of the La Casamance private hospital to receive the ARS on its premises. It was an opportunity to set the record straight and clarify its position on the provision of healthcare in the Aubagne area.

First of all,I should point out that the Edmond-Garcin hospital and the Casamance hospital have had a working relationship for over 15 years," explains Jean-Henri Gautier, the hospital's general manager. " We share the hospital-at-home services, we prepare their chemotherapy regimens, and many of the hospital's doctors use one or other of the two establishments for their consultations and operations. What' s more, over the last two and a half years, we've been working hard with the hospital to improve coordination of care provision and meet the region's health needs.

"Casamance's expertise will be transferred to the public hospital".

This work has led to plans to "relocate" the Casamance maternity unit to the hospital in the coming months, with the aim of obtaining authorisation from the ARS for a Level 2 unit with a neonatal intensive care unit. Hence everyone's astonishment to discover that the ARS, in its roadmap for the hospital, talks of "closing" the maternity unit. In response, Ahmed El Bahri, Director of Healthcare at the ARS, said yesterday that this was a"clumsy mistake", and sought to reassure.

Mothers-to-be will still be able to choose how they want to give birth, as the Casamance's expertise will be transferred to the public hospital," said Jean-Henri Gautier. Two years ago, the Casa de naissance opened its doors, offering physiological childbirth, a method used by around a hundred of the 500 women who give birth in Casamance every year. As for the return of staff to the maternity unit, the clinic's management will be very"vigilant". A meeting is scheduled for next week with the ARS on this subject.

As far as critical care is concerned, while the Casamance does not have a roadmap for the future, the ARS yesterday confirmed that itwould "maintain its intensive care activity, which is considered essential given the procedures performed, particularly major surgery and cancerology" - it also has a Continuing Care Unit and a specialised USC.

Casamance is financially independent

However, Jean-Henri Gautier rejects the debate that systematically pits the public against the private sector:"There is no question of undermining the public hospital, but the real question is: what do we want for patients? We need to get round the table to support, rather than suffer, the major changes taking place in patient care: innovations, improved techniques, patient demand for shorter stays, and so on. Of course,this will mean restructuring our healthcare establishments, but if we don't go along with this approach, we're doomed in the short term...".

Caroline Berthet, the hospital's deputy chief executive officer, also wants to put paid to a certain idea of the private sector, citing the latest figures for the hospital, which, although it generated sales of €40m last year, only made a profit of €380,000,"and that's without any subsidy from the ARS":The establishment, which is financially independent and does not belong to a group, does not aim to line its own pockets, and the profits are reinvested on an ongoing basis," she comments. " The care provided is the same as in the public sector, as are the specifications, and any extra charges are made with tact and moderation, and with the consent of the patients."

To date, the Casamance does not know whether its intensive care unit will grow,"but it is in our interest, and that of the public hospital, to work together so that we do not have to endure, but rather support, the inevitable reorganisation of the hospital sector that is taking place in the Aubagne area, and build a comprehensive, coherent and high-quality healthcare offer", concludes Jean-Henri Gautier.

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The employees of the Casamance maternity unit are concerned

The CGT-Unsa trade union group at the private hospital reacted strongly to the term "closure" used by the ARS and hospital management to describe the maternity unit at their establishment, whereas"until then, it was a transfer that was envisaged", it stressed in a press release, pointing out that the unit represents"19 competent, dedicated and committed employees who have learned in the most brutal way that their professional future is in serious jeopardy". "Will they be taken back? No one is talking about it. Is a job in the private sector worth less than a job in the public sector?" asked the unions, who spoke of a"partnership" that would make it possible to"maintain a long-term activity that guarantees the safeguarding of jobs in both hospitals". (...) "As employees in the private sector," they add, "we have long since moved away from the dogmatic and obsolete oppositions that place the private and public sectors face to face, and we are also appealing to our colleagues at Aubagne hospital to ensure that empathy is reciprocated and that the project to restructure the healthcare provision in the Aubagne region is not carried out to the detriment of one or the other! We're committed to public service, and we'd like to take this opportunity to point out that we too hold a Délégation de Service Public contract, and that we hope they care about our jobs as much as we care about keeping theirs!