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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director)
On Monday, the administrative court of Montreuil announced the cancellation of the declaration of public utility of the Grand Paris-Nord hospital project, considering that “the disadvantages of the operation outweighed its advantages”. beds is particularly singled out.
The administrative court of Montreuil in Seine-Saint-Denis on Monday canceled the declaration of public utility of the future Grand Paris-Nord hospital, considering that “the disadvantages of the operation outweighed its advantages”. The health care project proposed by this large structure being below current hospitals, which was retained by the court.
Fewer beds and births in this project
At an estimated cost of 1.3 billion euros, the Grand Paris-Nord hospital project carried out by the AP-HP (Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris) and the University of Paris Cité should replace the current Bichat hospitals. in Paris and Beaujon in Clichy. It should also house teaching and research activities. However, in this race for progress, the offer of care poses a problem. “The court noted that the operation led to a reduction, on a like-for-like basis, of the number of hospital beds from 1,131 to 941, the number of outpatient places from 207 to 173 and the number of births that could be accommodated from 3,238. at 2000”, said the judges. Administrative justice has also been seized of an appeal by local residents and healthcare unions, who consider the Grand Paris-Nord hospital to be undersized in relation to the health needs of the area covered.
The AP-HP, for its part, maintains that the quality of care was, however, at least maintained thanks to hotel beds, an improvement in the outpatient turnover rate… At the end of June, the AP-HP had also called on the judges to take take into account the advantages of the project such as the modernization of infrastructures, or the improved environmental balance sheet. Arguments that were not enough.
“A local network would make much more sense”
For Dr. Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo, we can only rejoice in a decision of common sense.
“We are talking about 1.3 billion euros invested for a project which provides for a reduction in hospitalization capacity! An aberration after COVID and as the population ages. The arguments of the AP-HP are pure communication (modernization, synergy, environmental assessment). The decision of the court is itself a decision of common sense and today points to this reduction in the supply of care. This is a real public health judgment because let’s not forget that the role of a hospital is to welcome and hospitalize patients!”
If the doctor has no doubt that the AP-HP will challenge and appeal this decision, on legal grounds, he nevertheless issues a reflection. “This decision should also be an opportunity to rethink the hospital map of Ile de France. Closing Bichat and Beaujon to put a large hospital is absurd. We are closing two hospitals to make one. I repeat, but in a context of aging of the population, it is above all necessary to return to a local network. The “big is beautiful” is over, what is needed is to be “small and efficient”.