the essential
The Mutualité Française de Tarn-et-Garonne is holding its general meeting on Saturday November 16 in Monclar-de-Quercy. The opportunity to discuss with its president Serge Berrier the achievements and projects launched in 2024 by the territorial union to improve the offer of care and support services in the department, both for early childhood and for active and elderly people.
Like its president Serge Berrier, the Tarn-et-Garonne territorial union of the Mutualité française is a quiet force… a reference especially in terms of care and support services. Well-designed services for the territory. On the eve of the general assembly which will be held this Saturday, November 16, 2024 in Monclar-de-Quercy, Serge Berrier takes a tour of the achievements and projects, also discussing national news, with the heated debate in the National Assembly on the Social Security financing bill.
Serge Berrier, if you had to define what this year 2024 was for the Mutualité française de Tarn-et-Garonne, what word would you use?
In previous years, we designed. In 2024, I would say that we have achieved, with the completion of health and social works, projects of general interest for all those covered by social security.
One of these projects came to fruition in Monclar-de-Quercy, where you are holding the general assembly this Saturday.
Indeed. In Monclar, we took over the nursery and completed the project to extend the retirement home by opening a 12-bed Alzheimer's unit and technical rooms for staff.
Where is the construction site for the Val de Bonnette mutualist residence in Caylus?
The work has started, we are starting the structural work. I remind you that in Caylus it is a question of bringing together on the same site, next to the retirement home, home nursing services (SSIAD) and personal services (SAP). The earthworks are finished, they are anchored on the rock of Caylus, it is solid.
The Mutuality will build a new nursing home in Labastide-St-Pierre. A few words about this big project?
We will have the opportunity to present it on December 14 during the ceremony of laying the first stone. The Labastide-St-Pierre nursing home will be built in 18 months just opposite the college, at a place called “La Rougette”. It will offer 60 beds, including 12 for Alzheimer's patients, an SSIAD, an SAP, three housing units and a day center.
The departmental level seems to me the right one to act effectively. What we offer is tailor-made, services sized according to the study of needs and local specificities.
The Labastide nursing home will be the 30th service managed by the Mutualité in Tarn-et-Garonne. Would you like to expand further?
I believe a lot in the usefulness of proximity, for me it is something relevant. With 400 employees, 29 departments, soon 30 as you say, we remain a structure on a human scale. It doesn't have to be a big machine. We are dealing with people, so it is essential to stick closely to the needs of the territory, in conjunction with local elected officials. The departmental level seems to me the right one to act effectively. What we offer is tailor-made, services sized according to the study of needs and local specificities. When I talk about human values, I think in particular of nursing homes. In these establishments, the role of families is essential in supporting professionals. If we close establishments, we dehumanize everything. On the contrary, they must be opened.
What are the important projects that will come to fruition in 2025?
I am thinking of the Valence-d'Agen dental center. The president of the Deux-Rives community Jean-Michel Baylet wanted to fill the gap in professionals in this area. He contacted us, given our experience in this area since we already manage two dental practices in Montauban, one in Caussade and one in Monclar. In Moissac, we are going to transfer the Maison de la Mutualité to the Place des Récollets by bringing together the optical center, the dental office, the hearing aid specialists' office, the nursing and home help offices in a former hotel. The project is locked. The call for tenders will be launched in early 2025.
A word on national news. Your general assembly comes at a time when the bill on financing Social Security is the subject of fierce discussions in the National Assembly. How do you position yourself in this debate?
The French Mutualité cannot stay out of this debate and it will have to get involved in safeguarding the social protection system. But mutual societies cannot be the adjustment variable for health insurance budgetary imbalances either. We must avoid transfers of charges as much as possible because this will inevitably have an impact on the amount of contributions. We note that the successive withdrawals from compulsory schemes are passed on to the insured. This is a big cause for concern because, for me, it is a roundabout way of creating a new tax.
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