Lenval-L’Archet rapprochement: public option or maintaining the status quo? Views differ, and everyone presents their arguments… which Nice-Premium is happy to publish in the interest of pluralism. Case to follow!
At the beginning of 2011, an independent audit commissioned by the GCS itself judged the situation as “explosive,” thus confirming repeated warnings from medical and non-medical staff.
The General Inspectorate of Social Affairs was called in, and its report was made public in October.
Officially announced on August 3, 2010, the merger of the pediatric departments of the University Hospital Center (CHU) with those of the Lenval Foundation on the Lenval site aimed primarily to consolidate and develop the pediatric center in Nice. This rapprochement was not initially concerning. Lenval holds a special place in the healthcare landscape of our department and in the hearts of the Azuréens. This non-profit and university-oriented establishment assures access for all to quality care.
However, the haste in which this rapprochement was carried out raises issues. Christian ESTROSI, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the CHU, aimed to make Nice the testing ground for the brand-new Health Cooperation Groupings (GCS). Pediatric care in Nice is paying a high price for its impatience.
The IGAS report highlighted both the toxic atmosphere among staff and the issues posed by the relocation of services to Lenval while others remained at L’Archet. The IGAS also points to the strong links between the management of Lenval, a non-profit establishment, and that of the Santa-Maria polyclinic, which is for-profit and housed within its premises.
IGAS recommends transforming Santa-Maria into a non-profit health facility, or relocating it, to create a comprehensive mother-child center integrating the public maternity of L’Archet on the Lenval site.
This practical example from Nice demonstrates the inherent risks of creating Health Cooperation Groupings (GCS). Indeed, public hospitals can now merge in accordance with the HPST law with private healthcare establishments. These groupings, which ultimately could lead to the disappearance of some activities in the strictly public sector, could have severe consequences for equal access to care.
Today, regarding the Lenval-L’Archet GCS, we support the IGAS recommendations, which notably include strict separation between profit-based and non-profit activities and the transfer of the GCS’s administrative function to the CHU.
Patrick ALLEMAND, 1st Vice President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region
Ladislas POLSKI, Regional Advisor for Regional Health Houses, Member of the CHU Supervisory Board
Since 1888, the Lenval Foundation has cared for all sick children without any distinction of resources, religion, or nationality, in a private non-profit setting.
Public authority representatives are considering, in two IGAS reports, making the merged pediatrics a civil service and propose the same solution for the future Woman-Mother-Child Center!
Context Reminder
Lenval is a non-profit foundation, recognized as publicly beneficial since 1893. Naturally, its Board of Administration seeks to satisfy the public interest: this is why it engaged the Foundation in the creation of the Woman-Mother-Child center in Nice, in partnership with the University Hospital Center.
This project initially involved grouping pediatrics within an experimental Health Cooperation Grouping (GCS) with private status.
The public administration is now considering launching an assessment to determine whether this private status should be maintained or whether the Grouping should be transformed into a public institution.
This is an intolerable challenge to the agreed arrangements. More fundamentally, choosing a public status would lead to evicting the Lenval Foundation from caring for sick children. Indeed, if the Grouping were established as a public health institution, the governance rules of these establishments would apply, and all staff would be under public hospital status.
Such an evolution cannot be accepted because of what the Lenval Foundation represents on the Côte d’Azur, its teams’ reputation, and its ability to mobilize all energies in favor of sick children.
On the contrary, installed in Lenval’s premises, the future Woman-Mother-Child center must rely on the Foundation, a private organization serving the public interest.
Why a Support Committee?
The committee currently has several hundred members, between 400 and 500.
Ms. Jeannine de ALBERTI, President of the Friends of Lenval Association: “Of course, we have nothing against the CHU of Nice.
We simply state that the healthcare offer must remain diverse, and it is on this basis that we claim that the current status of the Health Cooperation Grouping should prevail, as stipulated by the founding texts of the CONSTITUTIVE CONVENTION of the GCS for the duration of the experiment, until May 2013.
That is why we strongly reject the very idea that the administration of the Grouping could be ensured by the CHU of Nice, following the recommendation of the IGAS Report.”
Additionally, the Support Committee recalls several technical points:
– The recent legal analysis of BARTHELEMY and ASSOCIATES FIRM from November 17 demonstrates methodically and precisely that several findings and recommendations of the IGAS report are based on a false/erroneous/inaccurate legal analysis, a report otherwise realized by a former CHU director, assisted by medical and nursing hospital officials, to audit a “GCS of private law.”
– Lenval’s accounts are balanced with an operational deficit of 800 K€ in 2009, whereas at the same time, pediatrics at the CHU of Nice, for an activity similar to that of Lenval, incurred a deficit of 2.4 million euros, three times greater than Lenval’s!
– The Grouping, which was intended to pool the resources and expertise of the two structures for cost reduction, generated in 2010, in just 5 months of activity, a deficit of nearly 2 million euros, or annualized to 4.8 million euros.
– The budget deficit for 2011 is expected to be between 4 and 5 million euros.
Prospects for the 2012 budget remain bleak, with a significant deficit announced.
The SUPPORT COMMITTEE will ensure the amplification of the Foundation’s voice through concrete actions.
Lenval Foundation Support Committee – Friends of Lenval Association
