For having performed “only” 1700 surgical procedures in 2005, the Menton Hospital Center is in the crosshairs of the Vallancien report. Professor Vallancien recommends the immediate reassignment of 113 surgical services whose activity is insufficient in the name of quality of care. However, Xavier Bertrand, the Health Minister, does not entirely agree with the viewpoint of the National Council of Surgery. He has asked the Regional Hospitalization Agencies to visit these 113 facilities before making any decisions. Each situation should be considered on a case-by-case basis, following an on-site investigation. For him, the criterion of 2000 operations per year is not the only factor to consider. For example, special efforts should be made in tourist areas.
Thanks to the Minister of Health, Menton’s hospital might just slip through the net. Meanwhile, a solution has already been found. A surgeon will be recruited as of October 1, 2006, and the director is already working on creating a public/private sector in Menton. This partnership with the clinic would allow for performing 4000 operations per year. However, the director, Ms. Catherine Romanens, does not rule out the possibility of closing the surgical unit. “We can’t be sure of anything today. We must never forget the lesson of the maternity ward…” Indeed, on July 28, 1993, the departmental directorate of health and social action authorized the closure of the maternity ward at the Ermitage clinic in Menton because it performed fewer than 300 births per year. This left a population of 70,000 without perinatal infrastructure.
For Catherine Romanens, the Menton hospital meets all the conditions for safety and quality, “otherwise, I would have already closed it.” What is the problem then? “The problem is that the cake has to be shared among too many people. And anyway, we have already had several reports like this one. It’s recurrent during major electoral periods. We are ready to partner with the private sector, provided that we don’t lose out. I’m not selling off the hospital. It will not be privatized.”
The possible cessation of surgical activity in Menton is displeasing to many. It especially displeases the people of Menton and Roquebrune, who would have to travel to Nice or Monaco. Waiting times could be prolonged. Menton’s firefighters would lose ambulances for an hour for each fracture. And the disappearance of this surgical unit would eliminate 80 jobs.
Catherine Romanens also wants to emphasize that the figures can be interpreted in many ways. “When a Hospital Center performs 5000 operations per year. Okay, it exceeds the bar of 2000. But it’s not the same when it’s 10 or 50 surgeons who perform them. We are criticized for the fact that our surgeons may lose their skills, so to speak, by performing so few operations each year. But we only had 2.5 surgeons to carry out these 1700 operations.”
So, could these closures be motivated by strictly economic reasons as the CGT has already denounced? Perhaps time will tell.
