At the end of June, the Bien-Assis care center in Montluçon, in the Allier region, must close its doors. The managing association does not have enough doctors to make it work. More than 7,000 patients will find themselves without a doctor, according to the association.
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Mi-mai, theAPARM (Association of abandoned patients looking for doctors), which manages the Bien-Assis care center in Montluçon, has announced to its members that the structure will close at the end of next month. The center had however opened its doors in September 2020, with 3 full-time doctors and a retired doctor in reinforcement. With this closure, more than 7,000 patients find themselves without a doctor, according to the association. Gérard Gardrat, president of APARM, explains: “ By the end of June, we will no longer have doctors. Previously, we had one full-time doctor and one part-time. The full-time doctor is on sick leave and will not resume his activity. The part-time doctor will also stop his activity on June 30. More than 7,000 patients registered at the center find themselves without a doctor. We will go back 6 months, when there was an obvious lack of doctors and around 10,000 abandoned patients ».
In terms of cash, this is no longer possible
The managing association had, however, identified 3 foreign doctors. But time is running out for the health center. Gérard Gardrat specifies: “ We have found 3 foreign doctors who agree to come to Montluçon. They passed the validation of their diploma on March 31 but it takes 6 months for them to obtain the green light to officially settle. We can’t wait until then. They are 2 Lebanese doctors and a Madagascan doctor “. The president of APARM explains that he alerted the elected officials: “ In terms of cash flow, this is no longer possible because we have lost the vast majority of the turnover of the health center. We intervened with local, departmental and national elected officials. But for now nothing is moving at this level ».
There is only a departmental council or a mayor who can make things happen
He adds : ” The patients thank us for what we have done and find it surprising that the elected officials do not come forward while in other departments, the departmental councils have taken the bull by the horns to find doctors, as in Saône-et- Loire where they recruited more than 60 doctors in 3 years. We do not have the clout to intervene with medical schools to recruit doctors. There is only a departmental council or a mayor who can make things happen ».
Disappointed elected officials
The City of Montluçon had made premises available free of charge for this health center. Frédéric Laporte, mayor (LR) of Montluçon, confides: “ I am inevitably disappointed. I thought there might be a solution to bring more doctors to Montluçon. The doctors recruited did not live up to their expectations. It is a shame because it had given rise to a lot of hope in the population. These hopes turn into much more assertive despair ». Pointed the finger like others elected by the president of the APARM, the elected official from Montluçon defends himself: Elected officials are mobilizing but we do not bring in doctors by snapping our fingers. It is always the fault of others. The room for maneuver is not easy. Doctors congregate in geographic areas and regions like the west and the south. There is complete freedom of installation. To attract doctors, I don’t think there is a quick fix. At a given moment, it will be necessary to go through a certain constraint for a geographical distribution. Pharmacists are not allowed to set up as they wish ».
If there were miracle solutions we would know
Claude Riboulet, president (UDI) of the Departmental Council of Allier, indicates: “ We supported APRAM and paid them a grant of 20,000 euros at the start of the year. Recruiting doctors starts with excellent goodwill. Except that this association has faced difficulties that we know elsewhere. We must not be definitively fatalistic, but this kind of project must be built by being a little more careful. It’s easy to kick in touch on the backs of elected officials. If there were miracle solutions we would know. Since 2006, the Department has set up the Wanted system, with grants for medical students who settle in Allier. It has been extended to all health professionals. But there is a great rivalry of the territories between them ».
We must make our basin attractive and wait for the effects of the end of the numerus clausus
Laurence Vanceunebrock, LREM member for Allier, does not hide her disappointment after the announcement of the closure of the health center either: “ Maintaining this care center is essential for the Montluçon basin. There are over 9,000 patients waiting to find a general practitioner. We are faced with administrative difficulties, such as the recruitment of doctors of foreign origin. The COVID crisis comes to paralyze the services of the Ministry of Health. The problem stems from the length of the processing of files for foreign doctors. The director of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional health agency told me about 6 months of examining the files “. She challenged Prime Minister Jean Castex on the matter. It indicates: ” We must make our basin attractive and wait for the effects of the end of the numerus clausus. We voted for it 2 years ago now, but the effects will only be felt in a few years. In the meantime, it is essential to be able to recruit foreign doctors. The answer is therefore ministerial, it is not legislative “. In Montluçon, many patients will find themselves without a referring doctor and hope that practitioners will be able to come and settle in the area.
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