The Hôtel-Dieu defense committee is launching a citizen vote campaign to demand the reopening of this service. According to them, its closure leads to an “extreme” saturation of other Paris emergencies.
The CGT union of hospitals in Paris (AP-HP) on Wednesday launched a “citizen vote” campaign to ask for the maintenance of the emergency rooms of the Hôtel-Dieu. This initiative, supported by the defense committee of this service, “Hôtel-Dieu, Hôpital pour tous”, consists of distributing ballot papers throughout Paris which will then be placed in small ballot boxes or in a large ballot box of approximately 1 , 40 meters high installed in front of the Hôtel-Dieu.
This new “popular” mode of action was decided on the day after a first consultation meeting on the Hôtel-Dieu modernization project to which the unions had been summoned by the new general manager of the AP-HP, Martin Hirsch. At the end of this dialogue committee, Usap-CGT expressed its disappointment and referred to a “dialogue of the deaf”. While it required as a prerequisite the full reopening of the emergency department and hospital beds at the Hôtel-Dieu, Martin Hirsch would have simply presented a tightly-knit plan to merge with home hospitalization.
For Dr Gerald Kierzek, ex-manager of this Smur, dismissed from his post last year by the AP-HP, the report is “bitter”. Contacted by Why actor, the emergency physician confided: “There is only the name of emergencies, they are no longer Emergencies!” I don’t know what to call it now, a dispensary? For me, it’s an empty shell today ”.
What are the emergencies at Hôtel-Dieu like today?
Dr Gerald Kierzek : There are no more ambulances, no more firefighters who come, contrary to the announcements of Anne Hidalgo. Every day, around fifty patients get lost when they come to Hôtel-Dieu. But without beds behind, or hospitalization, emergencies now look more like a dispensary. Result, since the arrival of Martin Hirsch at the controls of the AP-HP, it looks more like an empty shell while the premises are brand new. In fact, when patients come to us, they are assessed, and based on that assessment they are referred to another facility. The Hôtel-Dieu has become a sort of “marshalling yard” for Parisian emergencies.
Martin Hirsch, your new president, has he kept his promises?
? Dr Gerald Kierzek : Martin Hirsch announced the reopening of twelve door beds in December. In fact, he reopened 4 beds which are not even door beds intended for a short hospital stay, “but beds to rest”, I quote from his press release. They are definitely not medical beds as we expected. Regarding the second announcement, that of the recruitment of four nurses again we are appalled. Indeed, four nurses were recruited but for a period of four months in CDD. Basically, until the municipal elections in March. This is the perfect timing for some policies. Conclusion, this is not a lasting announcement. There is no roadmap to save the emergencies of the Hôtel-Dieu, as had been promised.
What is the consequence of this closure on other emergencies in Paris?
Dr Gerald Kierzek : On November 4, 2013, the emergency room at Hôtel-Dieu was closed. From that date, we see supersaturations with weekly levels of 200-250% saturation. And surprisingly enough, it is the hospitals around the Hôtel-Dieu (10th-13th arrondissement) that are the most saturated. But it even goes beyond Paris if we look closely at the figures. In fact, as the ambulances have been redirected elsewhere, it is inevitably blocking somewhere other than within our establishment. Unfortunately, there, the emergency responders are breaking down. In Cochin, for example, there is a strike notice. Another similar case, that of Pitié-Salpétrière, which triggered the “Hospital in tension” plan. It’s just before the disaster plan! Emergencies become corridors of shame.
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