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Paul Lesigne
Published on
June 29, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
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It’s already been 3 years since the municipal health center of Lisieux (Calvados) opened its doors, in the Victor Hugo space. It was on May 3, 2021, and it then had four salaried doctors. 3 years later, “it is a very important tool”, notes Karine Bonniec.
“City doctors are overwhelmed”
Director of the municipal social action center (CCAS) and the health center, it was she, with the support of the services, who created the equipment “in 6 and a half months”, then its branch, in March 2023 in Hauteville:
“Many doctors have retired, and we have a shortage of medical services in the region. City doctors are overwhelmed. Our doctors at the health center are salaried and work on a daily basis, and they too have many people to see in their patient base. »
A cardiologist arrived
The health center and its branch now have nine doctors, including a dermatologist and a cardiologist. The latter arrived in April 2024:
“We have a cardiology offer every Monday, and it will probably extend to an additional half-day from September, to offer the fitting of Holters and their reading.”
These doctors represent “6.8 full-time equivalents”. There is also a full-time clinical psychologist and a part-time social worker. “It should be noted the presence of an Asalée nurse, even if it is something independent, which has nothing to do with the health center,” adds Karine Bonniec.
50 hours of additional medical time
And the director of the health center has good news:
“We are waiting for two doctors to arrive. There is one who is currently an emergency doctor in Lyon. He goes back to his family in Normandy. It will probably arrive on November 1st. He will come to work with us two days a week, and will be exclusively present on the Hauteville antenna. And on January 2, a second doctor will arrive. He will be there three days a week. This will increase medical time by 50 hours per week, which is always a plus. »
How do Cindy Godey, deputy in charge of solidarity, Karine Bonniec and their teams manage to attract so many professionals? “Being an employee is of great interest to practitioners, who want to work during set hours,” notes the director. “You should also know that the health center has five medical secretaries. They support and considerably relieve the doctors of all the administrative procedures.”
Varied profiles
From the young person hired after his internship to the former private doctor at the end of his career, the profiles of these professionals are varied: “We have young recruits, and what is interesting is to mix with more seasoned doctors, believes Karine Bonniec. What interests me in the health center is multi-skills and multi-disciplinarity. I want to ensure that we recruit doctors who have different interests: we have a doctor focused on internal medicine, another on violence against women and gynecology, another trained in sleep apnea, others pure generalists… And they must have a sense of public service. »
“We are reaching cruising speed”
3 years after the opening, “we are reaching cruising speed”, estimates the director. When the new doctor arrives on January 2, 2025, “it will be full in terms of reception capacity”:
“We have two offices in Hauteville and five offices in the main health center. We need to optimize the use of our offices and the schedules of the doctors present.”
While waiting for the possible opening of a new annex in the northern district, “if other doctors want to come, the urban area also offers solutions in terms of employment and private practice,” recalls the city agent: “We will make sure to attract them anyway.”
“Training advanced practice nurses”
“One of the projects that is close to my heart is to continue training advanced practice nurses,” says Karine Bonniec. “We have already received two at our main health center, who were very well received and trained by Loïk Geffray, an internist.”
These advanced practice nurses could “take charge of certain first aid appointments, certain prescription renewals… All under the supervision of the doctor, of course”, specifies the director of the CCAS: “This could be a lever interesting to free up medical time for other more serious pathologies. »
And to recall: “Welcoming more doctors has a strong financial impact for a community. It’s a very big investment.” This year, the Lisieux municipal council voted a grant of €350,000 to balance the budget for the equipment and its annex: “The community has made a very good effort to set up this tool that the population really needs.”
More than 8,000 registered
If there was a number needed to summarize the importance gained in 3 years by the Lisieux health center and its annex, it would be this: “We have more than 8,000 patients registered,” says Karine Bonniec. Of these 8,000, “there are around 4,000 patients monitored regularly,” specifies the director of municipal equipment.
Can the health center accommodate others?
“It’s a huge subject, a big discussion with the doctors. We could take more, but we have 8,000 people registered, and 4,000 who are coming. If tomorrow, everyone comes… Today, we would almost have to go back over the files of the 4,000 people who didn’t come, or who only came once a long time ago, to find out if they have found another solution. But we don’t necessarily have the time or the means to do that.”
Behind, “we must be able to ensure a quality care pathway for people”, at the rate of “a consultation every 20 minutes”.
“Faced with public dismay”
“When we arrived (at Lisieux town hall), there were between 12,000 and 15,000 people without a doctor in the area,” recalled Sébastien Leclerc when the annex in Hauteville opened. Since then, more private doctors have left… Which makes the mayor of Lisieux say: “We feel like we’re on a bottomless pit.”
“It’s a stress factor for the population, it’s very distressing. We have a vulnerable, elderly population… We’re not coping well with this situation either, because it’s complicated to be confronted every day with the public’s dismay and not have an efficient response to offer them, or only a piecemeal solution.”
She concludes: “Unfortunately, we are not magicians, we are not capable of absorbing all the needs. Liberal doctors do a gigantic part of the work, and we come as a complementary and additional offer. »
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