Launched in April 2021, the municipal health center of Elne has encountered no difficulty in recruiting doctors. Within the structure, the latter are employed by the municipality and can de facto devote time to the implementation of prevention projects, which attracts young graduates eager for innovation.
The idea of launching a municipal health center, with doctors employed by the City, was born in July 2020. “We had a lot of doctors who had retired. The town was in the process of medical desertification, explains the mayor of the town, Nicolas Garcia. People were desperate…”
In order to solve the problem, the town hall finds premises, buys equipment and recruits doctors, partly thanks to aid from the Primary Health Insurance Fund and the Regional Health Agency, which support this type of initiative. Located on the first floor of a pharmacy, the municipal health center finally opens in April 2021. It currently has five doctors and plans to be self-financing within two years.
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Another way to approach medicine
“We are obliged to refuse applications from doctors, indicate Nicolas Garcia. This model corresponds to a need of new graduates, who aspire to something other than acting. Within the municipal center, in addition to carrying out consultations, unscheduled care and home visits, they can take the time to reflect on the pathologies observed in the city. It’s another way of approaching medicine.”
One of the facility’s doctors, Avinash Sondhoo, 33, confirms: “Here, we can take part in the fight against inequalities in access to care and set up prevention projects, which is difficult in liberals given the mode of remuneration. It is this innovative and extremely stimulating model that interested.”
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