Louise Sallé, edited by Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: Magali Cohen / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
At the end of the year, the Georges-Pompidou European hospital in Paris launched a call for donations on social networks to purchase a high-tech scanner worth several million euros, which only two French hospitals currently have. the current time. This scanner produces very high resolution images and can identify tumors, for example. However, the fact that this hospital, a public establishment, calls for the generosity of Internet users for this type of investment is quite exceptional.
“It is extremely symptomatic of the abandonment of the public hospital service”
And this divides doctors, starting with Patrick Pelloux, president of the Association of Emergency Physicians of France (Amuf) and interviewed by Europe 1. “I thought it was a joke, it’s absolutely incredible!”, castigates- he first. “Hospitals have management over investment, debt recovery, running services… And then, inflation was not budgeted for,” points out the doctor, “no one predicted that the “Food has increased by 25% in the space of two years.”
The trade unionist is sounding the alarm on these calls for generosity. “We are starting with the equipment. Gradually, we will begin to call for donations to pay the staff, and this is extremely symptomatic of the abandonment of the public hospital service by the public authorities,” criticizes Patrick Pelloux.
112 million euros raised thanks to donations since 2015
If the financial management of the establishment raises questions, it is above all proof of the lack of resources of the public hospital for Nathalie Coutinet, health economist at the University of Paris 13. “The daily costs are already insufficiently financed, as are investments in very complex, very technological and also very expensive materials. We are better cared for, but it costs a lot more”, she summarizes at the microphone of Europe 1.
The Georges-Pompidou European Hospital, for its part, ensures that calls for donations are frequent. In total, 112 million euros have been raised thanks to donations since 2015 by the Fondation de l’Assistance publique des Hôpitaux de Paris.