Charles Guyard (in Laval), edited by Juliette Moreau Alvarez
Every day, Europe 1 looks at an idea that improves your daily life. This morning, direction Mayenne, a rural territory cruelly in need of doctors. To respond to this problem, a mutualist group has opened three local branches where retired doctors work. A blessing for patients.
Make retired doctors work, a solution to fill the medical deserts. This is the idea of the mutualist group Vyv3 which, in Pays de la Loire, has opened three local medical service branches such as in Laval, in Mayenne. For the inhabitants who have not had a doctor for sometimes years, it is a blessing.
“We all need a doctor”
“I came to register because my attending physician, unfortunately, has retired,” says Aurélie. “There are no longer any attending physicians who agree to take on new clients,” she laments. For this Mayennaise, coming to the nearby Laval Medical Center was a bit of a last-ditch operation. “Even if I don’t consult often, we all need a doctor”. Opened in 2017, this center has filled a real gap. The proof today, 7,000 patients from the entire department have declared him as their attending physician. “It did me an important service and here, they took me without problem”, explains this resident. Without this center, this patient admits that she would have had to go to the emergency room “for things that are not vital”.
For some patients, on the other hand, it was high time to find a doctor since, for lack of follow-up for months or even years, the situation was becoming very worrying. “We will end up with diagnostic delays in all chronic pathologies”, warns Doctor Dominique Hérault, coordinator of the center. “The years when we have not been able to take care of these diseases, it will result in a reduction in life expectancy.” Thirteen doctors retired for less than five years take turns here on a part-time basis, with employee status. Three medical secretaries, paid by local authorities, provide reception and administration.