The situation of this public hospital, which serves an urban area of 60,000 inhabitants, is as revealing as it is shocking. This hospital, opened in May 2011 and built as a public-private partnership with Bouygues, regularly sees departments close punctually due to lack of staff.
This was recently the case in the pulmonology department for several months. Last January, a disabled patient remained in a chair for eleven hours without seeing a doctor for a foot infection. She then died of a heart attack, despite being transferred to a hospital in Lyon. While hundreds of hospital workers have walked out several times in recent months to denounce the lack of staff, management has repeated even after the January tragedy that “there was no defect in the care process”. There is no reason to be reassured!
While the heatwave is currently difficult to bear in homes in the region and it is difficult to find a doctor during this summer period, the population is asked to call 15 and, if necessary, go to the emergency room… of the Lyon hospitals located 40 km away!
But this catastrophic situation does not only create losers since the hospital pays Bouygues, the owner of the premises, a monthly rent of 1.2 million euros until… 2042!
The State despises the population using public hospitals but takes great care of private shareholders.
