Launched a little over 6 months ago, the village health center, piloted by the Occitanie Region, has expanded its medical offer. Today, there are 4 part-time doctors, and 2 substitutes, which ensures a real service, with little waiting for appointments.
For the mayor of the town, Jérôme Crampe, the bet is about to be won. “When we decided to create this health center, we were going a bit into the unknown. There was the example of Aureilhan, Tarbes, but that’s it. And above all, we realized that it was very complex to manage, so we joined the GIP created by the Occitanie Region, which is responsible for recruiting doctors and managing daily life.” Obviously, the recruitment of doctors is not done with the snap of a finger, and when the health center opened at the end of last year, there were only two part-time doctors, doctors André Laclergue and Pierre-Marie Vienne. Insufficient to ensure a daily service and offer decent deadlines. “But we must pay tribute to them, they are the ones who gave birth to the center, who started the pump.”
Already 3500 consultations carried out
And it worked. Today, just over 6 months after the launch, doctors Laclergue and Vienne, who are still there, can count on the support of two other doctors, also part-time, doctors Alain Hatté and Nadine Mareite. “This reinforcement has made it possible to draw up monthly schedules. In addition, in the event of absence, the health center can also count on two other substitute doctors, doctors Frédéric Gehin and Mickaël Desaivre. Clearly, the health center is now open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. In fact, the pace of consultations has evolved considerably, a second medical secretary has also been hired, and to date, 3,500 acts have already been performed. And above all, the number of doctors makes it possible to “specialize” the schedules, between scheduled appointments and emergencies of the day. About appointments, the delay is around 3 to 4 days, which is frankly acceptable. “In addition, there is an electric car available, which is used for home visits.”
A “full time” at the start of the school year
“The Bordères-sur-l’Echez health center is on track”, rejoices Vincent Bounes, vice-president in charge of health in the Occitanie Region, at the origin of the My Region My Health project, “but it still needs to be strengthened. To date, we have opened 12 centers in Occitania, and recruited 46 doctors. And it continues, we are recruiting between 3 and 5 per month. And I can announce that on September 1, the center of Bordères-sur-l’Echez will welcome doctor Tuc-Périssié, who will ensure a “full time” of 35 hours / week. There, we will have reached the objective.” And Jérôme Crampe adds that there will still be a practice available for another doctor. “But we can be satisfied, the health center works. Especially since it is doubled by three nursing offices, a speech therapist and an osteopath.” Now all that remains is to make it last. Within the Departmental Association of Mayors, we are going to create a “group” of mayors who house a health center, in order to draw up a charter.” To avoid, for example, that a “mercato” of doctors does not s install between them…