“We know that there are budgetary problems caused by government decisions but not at the expense of people with multiple disabilities, no! » Pierre-François Lejeune, deputy mayor of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (Manche) is angry. On the evening of Wednesday, November 6, 2024, the Manche departmental council announced the withdrawal of its participation in the financing of the medical reception establishment (EAM) at La Glacerie. Without this subsidy of €700,000 (half the budget), the structure, which welcomes people with multiple disabilities, risks closing.
Thirteen people already welcomed in the establishment
To make their discontent heard, departmental elected officials from the Social and Environmental Left group as well as Benoît Arrivé, mayor of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, co-signed an open letter addressed to the president of the community, Jean Morin. As a reminder, this establishment, managed by the Acais association, is the result of a project call, launched in 2019 by the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and the Departmental Council.
“While today it is appropriate to no longer speak of a project, but of a partially open establishment which will reach full capacity at the end of 2025, that buildings are coming out of the ground and that people are already welcomed (thirteen people are already supported on 22 places authorized), we learn that the Department would consider withdrawing its funding, thus breaking the word given,” write the elected officials.
They call on the president to reverse this decision. The Department, for its part, ensures that responsibility “medical establishments are the exclusive jurisdiction of the State. At a time when the State suddenly withdraws 26 million euros of revenue from the departmental budget in 2025 by threatening its balance, it is undermining its social skills… It is difficult to see how the Department could also move into other areas of competence than its own and even replace the State in the medical field. The State must assume its responsibilities towards families within its own areas of competence.”
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