For several days, the commune of Montsaugeonnais, and more especially the village of Vaux-sous-Aubigny, has been at the center of a controversy, following the announcement made by two health professionals. Explanations!
We have to go back just before the Christmas period to find the origin of a disproportionate, unwelcome, hazardous and above all misunderstood outcry. In fact, it all started with a simple announcement posted on the front door of the Sistergey medical center (Côte-d’Or). Two existing doctors announced the end of their collaboration with the said health center to practice, from the summer of 2025, in the adjoining town of Le Montsaugeonnais.
A poorly presented decision
It was enough for the town hall of Lorsgey but also the community of communes Tille and Venelle to immediately step up to the plate. However, if the approach is entirely legitimate, it must still be done with moderation and objectivity… and above all by asking the right questions!
Especially since certain local newspapers, both on the Burgundian side and on the Champagne side, relayed the wrath of elected officials, without having sought the opinion of the doctors concerned, or even that of the welcoming commune, namely Le Montsaugeonnais. This is why they wanted to make a joint statement explaining what led to this decision to migrate to Haute-Marne.
“They didn’t come to get us.”
This is how Marion Foucher and Ludivine Rossinthe two doctors concerned and Olivier Oliveiramayor of Le Montsaugeonnais, wanted to speak together this Monday, December 30. If everyone regrets the way in which the subject is highlighted, it is nevertheless necessary to provide some clarifications.
“Even if our personal motivations are slightly different, you should know that no one came to get us to poach us from the Allezgey medical center. We had only heard that the Montsaugeonnais had responded to an AMI (call for demonstrations of interest) to the Departmental Council for the installation of a medical center on its territory. We therefore approached the competent departmental services.explains Marion Foucher in the preamble. And Olivier Oliveira sheds light on the progress of the case: “For our part, although we were obviously warned some time ago, there was no question, as the doctors wished, of disseminating the information until the Departmental Council had formalized their applications. Which was only done very recently..
Known malfunctions
Doctor Ludivine Rossin, who will have to move away slightly from her place of residence, admits to latent fed up: “I arrived in Lorsgey in 2018 as part of a medical and paramedical team doing fantastic work and I was delighted to be able to compensate for a medical desert. However, on many occasions we have reported to the president of Tille et Venelle and to the elected according to significant dysfunctions We have never been heard, working conditions have deteriorated and today the quality of care for our patients is compromised..
And, after listing problems ranging from the hygiene of the premises to the absence of air conditioning in summer, from broken shutters to used furniture, not to mention the parking cameras and the alarm which do not work.. . nor rents which continue to rise and rise. “During a meeting on June 21, 2024, elected officials did not understand the urgency of responding to our requests, nor the challenges of the situation, despite my clearly stated initial warning”. Hence his astonishment when the elected officials (including the mayor of Lorsgey, notified simultaneously of the display on the door of the Medical Center) seemed to be amazed!
A purely medical choice
As for Marion Foucher, if she chose to be an employee of the Department of Haute-Marne, “It is above all to no longer have this overload, increasingly heavy and colossal, of administrative and stewardship work. Which will allow me to devote myself more to medicine. By working fewer hours, I will consult as many than if I were self-employed. Furthermore, I also think of my patients (more than half of whom reside in Haute-Marne) by practicing about fifteen kilometers from Lorsgey. Another determining factor, but more personal, in his choice: Doctor Foucher lives in the town of Montsaugeonnais where his children go to school!
And to summarize in one voice: “This decision is our own choice. It is a medical decision. We must not see in it stories of elected officials, nor mix in the CPTS 21/52 or the GHT 21/52… especially since we will always be on the same medical territory, in the same living area”. A decision which will, moreover, increase the provision of care in the region. Indeed, the two doctors will have to carry out occasional shifts on board the medical bus which will travel to the medically isolated Haut-Marne villages. And why not emulate? Because Ludivine and Marion clearly show their desire to continue to be internship supervisors by welcoming medical interns and thus encouraging them to take the path of general medicine.
