The Var Plain is set to host the merger of the Archet hospital, the Antoine Lacassagne center, and the Cimiez hospital to create a “mega hospital.” A project valued between 500 and 600 million euros, which not all the involved parties are inclined to approve.
The announcement caused quite a stir in the Nice medical community. While the region had announced a five million euro offer for the modernization of the Nice University Hospital, Christian Estrosi made a surprising announcement at the beginning of the week. The mayor of Nice wants to create a “mega hospital” on the Var Plain. In the columns of Nice Matin, he explains that “these establishments are no longer suitable or large enough to accommodate patients given the demographic evolution, the aging population, and thus the increasing needs. Moreover, the seismicity of Archet is far from exemplary, Cimiez needs a new impetus, Lacassagne is cramped…” A commitment from the municipal leader to improve the environment and the quality of available care.
An ambitious project that could gather the commitments of the Antoine Lacassagne center, the Lenval Foundation, and the Nice University Hospital. The project aims to create a gigantic healthcare facility of 125,000 m2 on the site of the Nicรฉa residence (formerly Sonacotra) by 2031-2032.
In a communiquรฉ from the Nice University Hospital, Rodolphe Bourret, the general director of the hospital, announces that this establishment “will optimize the management of the most complex patients, bring together medical-care expertise on a single site and promote research, innovation, and the teaching of health students.”
Reaching this objective is estimated to cost between 500 and 600 million euros based on initial estimates.
A project that raises questions
A price that raises questions, particularly from the Antoine Lacassagne center and the Lenval Foundation: “It is with great surprise that the Antoine Lacassagne center and the Lenval Foundation learned from the press about the terms of this project, presented as decided and accepted with its schedule, while its financing remains very uncertain to date,” as noted in a joint statement published by our colleagues at Tribuca.
The two institutions go further, explaining that they are ESPICs, [Note: Private Non-Profit Healthcare Establishments], “whose governance is assured by an independent Board of Directors and a general management. Any decision regarding the location of their activities, their future, and their scope, as well as the necessary investments fall under these bodies, under the supervision of the Regional Health Agency and ultimately the Ministry of Health.”
The statement notes that these bodies must adhere to these commitments from a social, legal, and moral standpoint, and also that “the preliminary reflections for such a project must be conducted in light of these principles and can only be considered within the framework of consultation, coordination, respect for the identity and autonomy of each party, as well as with a complementarity between health actors and local authorities, under the authority of the Regional Health Agency and in compliance with the Regional Health Project recently validated for the next five years.”
A rather bizarre situation whose saga is just beginning.
Alessandro Legros
