THE SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS IS WORSENING

The shortage of doctors is getting worse, gradually making Grenoble a medical desert. The elected Greens/LFI at the helm for more than 10 years have not anticipated anything and are now stirring up air to give the illusion of action while they have missed important possibilities to promote the installation of practitioners.

GRENOBLE WELL BELOW AVERAGE

The figures speak for themselves. In France there are 8.7 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants. In the Region, the average rises to 9.1. The department of Isère reaches 9.4… and Grenoble is completely behind all these averages, with a figure of 6.1 doctors per 10,000 Grenoble residents. And the ARS also confirms that each year we record more departures than installations.

1/3 OF GRENOBLOIS WILL SOON WITHOUT A TREATMENT DOCTOR

Even more alarming: in 2023, a study by the CPTS (Territorial Professional Health Community) identified 49,000 Grenoble residents who do not have a GP, or have one who is now over 60 years old. With established practitioners hardly taking any new patients, this represents a very large number of residents who risk finding themselves out of business after retirement.

10,000 MORE GRENOBLOIS WITHOUT A DOCTOR

This is precisely what is happening at the end of the year. In Narvik Street, near Place Gustave Rivet, at the end of the year three practices for a total of 7 doctors will close their doors without having been taken over. No less than 10,000 residents find themselves destitute, without an alternative solution. At the beginning of October, Dauphiné Libéré collected testimonies from patients in tears at this news.

“A LACK OF ANTICIPATION UNLIKE OTHER TERRITORIES”

So much for the picture which hardly encourages optimism. Doctor Maxime Maisonneuve, vice-president of the Council of the Order of Physicians of Isère, explains to La Tribune AURA that “It’s a situation that was foreseeable and was not anticipated.” Journalist Oriane Raffin confirms further: “industry experts see several causes. And already, unlike other territories, a lack of anticipation“. We can also reasonably assume that the lack of attractiveness of the city, which loses inhabitants every year, is not a factor likely to encourage doctors to come.

A LACK OF VOLUNTARISM FROM THE CITY OF GRENOBLE?

In addition to the well-known national situation, Grenoble therefore has its own specificities which aggravate the problem. Among the causes which once again make our city a backward territory: isolated offices, often inaccessible to PRMs, and prohibitive access to land. Claire Guichou, from the ARS, explains to La Tribune: “after 10 years of study, young doctors do not necessarily want to go into debt, while other municipalities offer an office or offer rental accommodation. A voluntarism to help with the installation which is lacking in the Verte/LFI municipality.

SOS DOCTORS OPENS FOR EMERGENCY CARE ONLY

Some (modest) good news in the middle of this slump: “SOS Docteurs”, already established in Echirolles, has opened an office in Grenoble for emergency care, not scheduled only. The office is located in the premises of formerly “Médecins 7/7” Cours Jean Jaurès, closed in the middle of COVID without either the Mayor Eric Piolle nor the Minister of Health and deputy for the sector at the time, a certain Olivier Véran , are not moved or lift a finger despite the 50,000 patients who were seen per year.

THE REFUSAL OF A HEALTH CENTER PROJECT IN 2020…

At the same time, the municipality committed a mistake which appears even more serious in retrospect. While a private operator intended to create a health center in the premises of the former CCI Place André Malraux, the city and the metropolis preferred to pre-empt the premises without having any idea of ​​what to do there. Today, they are temporarily hosting metro services while it builds its massive new 110 million euro headquarters. When it reintegrates, the former CCI should be transformed into housing.

… 5 MINUTES FROM CABINETS WHICH CLOSED

As if the sector wasn't already dense enough. And as if we could afford the luxury of sweeping aside an initiative that would have improved access to care. Sadly ironic: the offices which are closing on rue de Narvik are located less than 5 minutes on foot from the premises on place André Malraux which could have housed the health center. This was recalled by Charah Bentaleb, opposition councilor from Alain Carignon's group, during the last municipal council where she presented a wish to improve access to healthcare for Grenoble residents.

A “MUNICIPAL HEALTH PLAN” FILLED WITH EMPTY

In terms of access to care, we could also cite the reduction of the school health service during the previous mandate or the elimination by thee CCAS of Grenoble (chaired by deputy Nicolas Kada) of taking charge of the vaccination of the agents of its EHPADs by referring them to their treating doctor, clogging up the consultations a little more. Which does not prevent the municipality from talking: last March, the health deputy Pierre-André Juven presented a pompous “municipal health plan”, in fact a catalog of intentions to communicate, touching on all the city ​​policies with always the same formulas and incantations.

THEY FORESEE THE FUTURE OF THE PLANET BUT NOT SEE THE LACK OF DOCTORS

The Greens/LFI of Piolle are not the last to give lessons of anticipation on the future of the planet in 2050 and beyond. In 10 years at the helm of Grenoble, on a subject of medical desertification which is nevertheless predictable and which many much more modest municipalities have already taken up, they have stood out for their wait-and-see attitude, their lack of initiatives and their decisions which aggravate the problem. And mask this failure with a veneer of communication as the elections approach. As per usual.