2023-10-24 16:47:52
Just a few days following opening, the calendars are already full until the end of the year… The new health center in Coudekerque-Branche, near Dunkirk, has been literally taken by storm since its opening on Monday October 16. “We had 438 visits on the first day, and 9,000 calls the first week, just to make appointments,” underlines the mayor’s chief of staff, Christophe Berrier, who largely piloted this project. And unfortunately, there are no more slots available over three months, except for certain emergencies.”
The objective of this center, installed in the building of the former tax center, rue Boernhol, is to compensate for the lack of doctors in the city and the surrounding area. Because despite the 11 liberal general practitioners who practice in Coudekerque, some 3,000 residents were without a doctor at the start of the school year, or 14% of the population.
“It’s becoming more and more complicated to find a doctor, confides Nadine, a 70-year-old from Coudekerquoise, who came for a meeting with her husband Jean-Pierre. You call any office, they won’t take any new patients because they already have too many.”
Abandoned patients
To create this health home, the municipality therefore turned to retired doctors, who have returned to service part-time and on a salaried basis. For the moment, there are 5 practitioners who have committed to one year.
“When I retired, some of my patients found themselves without a doctor, assures Doctor Robert Détant, who has been retired for 3 months, but who puts on his coat here once a week. So it’s very important to help out patients who are abandoned, and also to help out colleagues who are still practicing and who can’t take it anymore.”
This practitioner also said “yes” to the town hall, because within the center the work is salaried and therefore more comfortable than in liberal. “We are completely relieved of all administrative constraints, paperwork, neon lights to change, toilets to unclog… We can concentrate solely on medicine, and it is much more rewarding for the doctor.”
Up to 1,500 patients per year
To complete the offer in this new municipal health center, the city is looking for other retired doctors. “We are at half our capacity, continues Christophe Berrier*. There are four offices here, so as the doctors don’t work every day we can accommodate 4 or 5 more.”*
Finally, the center should accommodate 1,500 patients per year, but the idea is of course not to overshadow liberal doctors, recalls the mayor’s chief of staff. “We are just trying to provide a solution to treat a few hundred patients, but we are not in competition, we complement doctors who are overwhelmed with work today.”
The town of Coudekerque is always looking to attract new general practitioners, we need three or four more to respond to needs.
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