Nevers, Friday January 27, 2023 – This Thursday, eight doctors were flown from Dijon to come and practice the day at Nevers hospital.
When Denis Thuriot, Renaissance mayor of Nevers, presented his plan to fight against medical desertification last November, many found the idea absurd. However, two months later, it materializes: this Thursday, eight doctors practicing in Dijon took off for Nevers in a plane specially chartered by the town hall of Nevers. Arrived at the airport of the capital of Nièvre at 9:00 a.m., they began their service at Nevers hospital, before leaving for Dijon at 6:00 p.m., still by plane.
« No, it’s not wacky, it fills a need commented Denis Thuriot on the airport tarmac. Nièvre is indeed one of the French regions hardest hit by medical desertification. ” Medical density has dropped by 21% in Nièvre between 2012 and 2022, there are 68 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to an average of 121 in France, 20% of patients have no attending physician explains Jean-François Segovia, director of the Nevers hospital centre.
The plane cheaper than temporary workers
Nevers suffers from its geographical location, since it has ” the farthest departmental hospital from a CHU “, namely that of Dijon, explains Denis Thuriot. To get from the Burgundian capital to Nevers, it takes 2h45 by train and 2 hours by train (and again, the train line will be closed for works in July for at least seven months). ” This is the argument that has often been opposed to me: we want to come to Nevers, you have a modern hospital but the travel time to get home is not possible “Develops the mayor.
Hence his decision to set up an “airlift” to bring in flying doctors ». « The plane is the best way to shorten the delays ” notes the city councilor, while a Dijon-Nevers flight only lasts 35 minutes. The operation obviously has a cost: 5,400 euros for the return flight, or around 670 euros per passenger.
But for the mayor, this is still less than the cost of hiring temporary workers to run the hospital, who sometimes demand up to 3,000 euros for 24-hour care. ” If we do it right, that we reorganize, we will even reduce the deficit of the hospital hopes the mayor. The hospital’s deficit is indeed 6 million euros, including 3.5 million devoted to temporary workers. The city councilor hopes that this exceptional device will be able to be renewed every Thursday and even intensify, with the use of a 15-seater plane and two rotations per week.
Environmentalists up in arms
The arrival of the doctors from Dijon does not only make people happy in Nevers. The municipal opposition points in particular to the environmental impact of this airlift. ” Air travel emits 1,500 times more greenhouse gases than train travel “Accuses Sylvie Dupart-Muzerelle, EELV municipal councilor of Nevers, who recalls that the government had undertaken to abolish domestic flights when there is an alternative by train of less than 2h30. ” I am aware of the criticisms about the carbon footprint, but you have to hear all those people who call 15 » replies Dr. Romain Thévenoud, one of the flying doctors from Dijon, who has set himself the goal of recreating SOS Médecins in Nevers.
The case illustrates in any case the intensity of medical desertification in certain regions of France, which pushes to adopt ever more astonishing measures.
Quentin Haroche
