The Regional Health Agency assures us: “the hospitals of Seine-Saint-Denis have varied levels of indebtedness, but which are not among the highest in Ile-de-France. Only two establishments in the department exceed the 30% debt threshold, a threshold which constitutes a criterion of financial health. »
However, the two establishments in question are the CHI Robert Ballanger, in Aulnay-sous-Bois (106 million euros in debt) and the CHI André Grégoire in Montreuil. The latter displays 98 million euros in debt, out of a total budget which amounted in 2021 to just over 145 million euros. Both have been grouped together since 2016 in the same Regional Hospital Group: the GHT Grand Paris Nord-Est.
Aging equipment and job cuts
If this form of financial and medical cooperation, made compulsory by the law on the modernization of the health system, should make it possible to rationalize costs and facilitate investments, the association of these two over-indebted establishments seems counterproductive. Especially since, if the third hospital of the GHT, the GHI of Raincy-Montfermeil, has “only” 26 million euros in debt, its total reconstruction also requires an investment of several hundred million euros. .
And these indebtedness have serious consequences on the supply of care. “Today we can no longer borrow anything, the medical equipment is therefore very aging, and we are largely dependent on aid from the ARS, which has therefore multiplied the rationalization and restructuring plans, which means, at each time, job cuts”, explains Brigitte Moranne, CGT union representative of the CHI André Grégoire de Montreuil. “Previously, for example, we had two nurses in each wing of the building, compared to only one now,” she notes.
If in Aulnay-sous-Bois, this debt is due to investments, the situation is more original in Montreuil, which had actually contracted this loan in 2008, which became “toxic” with the subprime crisis.
3.5 million euros of interest to be repaid each year
“In concrete terms, and despite several renegotiations, since 2021 we have had to repay 4.5 million euros in capital each year, and 3.5 million euros in interest! notes the trade unionist. And it is indeed this almost 78% interest that plunges the establishment into the red, despite several aids including that, substantial, of Ségur de la Santé. 40 million euros have indeed been granted to the establishment in this context, including 26.5 million to cover part of the debt, but spread over 10 years.
Thus, only a little more than 2.5 million euros will come each year to help the hospital repay the loan. “That’s not even enough to repay the interest, and the rest of the 40 million is a long way from making up for our investment deficit…” regrets Brigitte Moranne. For her “we will not be able to get out of this without full debt recovery”, an option which is not currently on the table. Contacted, the management of the hospital did not wish to speak on the subject.
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