Monday evening, during the municipal council, Gilbert Hangard, the health assistant, following several written questions from the left opposition, gave an update on the file of the public health center.
“We will not be the carriers of the public health center. We are not intended to be a provider of care”. The message from Gilbert Hangard, the health assistant, is crystal clear. For several months now, the file has been regularly on the table of the municipal council. It is pushed by elected left-wing opposition politicians and an Albigensian association created in January 2022, supported by the national association of health centers. Monday evening, at the end of the council, the opposition asked where the file was, recalling that the Occitanie region had created a public interest group to carry out this kind of project. Only problem, to participate, you need a carrier municipality and that of Albi does not want. “It’s a political decision, I won’t do it,” added Gilbert Hangard. In addition to his political position, the chosen one gave some additional arguments. There are currently no health centers financially balanced. For Gilbert Hangard, at a time when the city “is having difficulty coping with its mandatory activities”, this is not the time to get involved elsewhere.
Finally for him, the GIP has a logic in territories like Haute Ariège or the mountains of Lacaune. “We have 60 doctors and a health center. Why another? “, he asks.
“I hear that there are difficulties. The population is rightly worried, but like everywhere,” admits Gilbert Hangard, who is keen to play down the situation. “We have a hospital, two clinics, a health center and sixty general practitioners. It’s not so bad “.
However, the city does not remain inactive on the subject. Quite the contrary. She wants to attract new doctors. Thus, attractiveness will be one of the strengths of the new local health plan. The hospital’s new emergency reception service will also help via its platform.
Finally, for a few days, a territorial professional health community has just been born. “There will be a single number for people without a doctor to try to find a solution for them”, assures the elected official.
A new meeting will take place on October 11 on the subject. The town hall nevertheless slipped that if there was a project leader (like the county council), it would not be opposed. And might even find premises.
Unless the public health center sees the light of day in another town in the Albigensian region…
