le CHU ferme ses urgences de nuit à Bordeaux, une clinique privée ouvre les siennes
Organized breakage of the public hospital: the private sector in ambush
While the management of the CHU de Pellegrin in Bordeaux has just announced the closure of the emergency department, at night, the private clinic of Tondu announced on Thursday that it was opening its emergency department 24 hours a day. The logic is clear: faced with the slaughter in the public hospital, it is the private groups that come forward as saviors and make health benefits.
In Bordeaux, the one which is none other than the 2nd University Hospital of France, was forced to close at night due to the lack of staff. A scandalous situation which is unfortunately not an isolated case. While one would have thought that these night closures, at the end of the health crisis, would be an electroshock and allow the dynamic to change, the government and the management of hospitals have other plans in mind.
This is explained by Doctor Philippe Revel, head of the adult emergency unit at the Pellegrin Hospital and director of SAMU, for whom this regulatory system could even continue: “ Emergencies accessible without medical validation 24 hours a day are ancient history. We don’t know how to do it anymore. We are at the dawn of a change of habits he explained to the microphone of theAFP. He even sees the future of emergency services “. Same speech at the ARS for whom it is a question of reorganizing the offer of care and of making the choice to sanctuarize the emergencies in order to dispense them only to the most serious cases. The prerequisite for going to the emergency room is to call the fire department or 15. ».
Their logic is clear, while the scrapping of public hospitals has been organized for many years, the critical thresholds obtained today become points of support for transforming access to care even more in depth. By relying on the lack of resources in the public sector, the government is opening the door wide to the private sector.
Privatization in progress. Who benefits from the crime?
The Tondu clinic, located in the town of Floirac near Bordeaux, belongs to the private Saint-Gatien group. According to the newspaper Hospimedia, the leading group in private hospitalization in France, generates nearly 375 million in turnover. And the night closure of the CHU emergencies sounds like a boon for the group as CEO Bruno Alfandari boastedleader ofabout fifteen private establishments : “ Obviously, we couldn’t have better timed to announce our opening. But what pride for us to participate even more in the health of the inhabitants of the Bordeaux metropolis. It is clear that demography has soared on the right bank, where the only emergencies of the Bordeaux Rive Droite clinic ensured this public service mission. Now there are two of us, which will allow us to share the load. For a private establishment like ours, an emergency service is structuring, it anchors on the territory… »
A disgusting speech that reflects the logic of private clinics. These benefit from the disintegration of the public hospital with which they find themselves in competition. Behind the private health establishments are often hidden major investors, this is the case of the Tondu clinic, which was financed by BNP Paribas, which also owns two other health establishments.
But if the private sector benefits from the breakage of the public health service, it is because it is cleverly orchestrated. For example, the Clinique du Tondu was built as part of the urban planning project EuroAtlanticthat is to say with the assistance of the Town Hall of Floirac and Bordeaux Métropole. This is clearly summed up by Jean-Christophe Larose, President of Groupe Cardinal, a property developer in the area: ” With the partnership of Bordeaux Métropole, we carried out this achievement, in collaboration with the Saint-Gatien Group. ” A clear example of the involvement and support of public authorities in the construction of private health sectors.
The public hospital on an artificial respirator
While the situation is about to get worse, with more than 120 establishments forced to limit their activity, nationwide, the government promises nothing good for public health. Successive governments have pursued major austerity policies and are in the process of sacrificing the public health sector to private interests. This will accentuate inequalities in access to care, by closing access to emergencies to the most precarious.
Faced with governments that are slowly killing public hospitals, it is a common struggle of all hospital staff and the population that can put a stop to the privatization of health. While a first rally was organized in Bordeaux against the night closure of emergencies, it is urgent and necessary to amplify the mobilization to defend real access to care.