It is a nice chain of solidarity that was set up in 48 hours around the Saint-Joseph hospital center, in the 14th district of Paris). At the end of last week, the geriatrician Florence Bonté had appealed for the generosity of her contacts on social networks to offer the nursing staff a more pleasant living environment around the hospital. After finding this request for help on WhatsApp, a hotel manager ran his network of entrepreneurs to create an “ all inclusive ” offer for the staff: hotel nights in a 4 star hotel, travel in 2 CV with drivers, dinners prepared by a restaurant owner and breakfasts delivered by a bakery. Eleven doctors and nurses have already slept there on Sunday evening.
Three weeks on the front
" We have been on the front lines for three weeks ," explains Doctor Florence Bonté. The hospital staff do not count their hours, work a lot, especially as around twenty of them are already contaminated and on sick leave. So I launched last week a call to my personal contacts to improve the daily life of our workforce, so that they last over time and continue to work without running out. My goal was for creative business leaders to find a way to “care for caregivers,” and of course for free. ”
Read also: Léo Cloarec, social worker: "There is great anxiety among street people"
Very quickly, this bottle in the sea was spotted by Timothée de Courcy, the founder of the Helzear hotel chain which has three establishments in Paris, one of which is 500 meters from the hospital. " For the past two weeks, our three hotels in Paris have been closed," he explains. So I called Florence Bonté to offer to house caregivers. The problem was that it was necessary to find services associated with the hotel, in particular for transport and catering. "
Timothée de Courcy then contacted other entrepreneurs in his professional network: Rudy Guénaire, the creator of the Paris New York (PNY) burgers chain, but also the managers of the bakeries Chez Meunier and Florent Dargnies, the founder of " 4 wheels under an umbrella ”, a 2 horse tourist transport company (2CV). Within 48 hours, the operation was in place.
Burgers and croissants
“ They reopened a kitchen at PNY and deliver a dinner every evening for the people who stay at the hotel. And not just burgers, otherwise everyone will become obese! continues Timothée de Courcy. Chez Meunier, they arrived at 5 a.m. on Monday and delivered croissants, breads and pain au chocolat. And we have a driver in 2 CV who makes all day transport between the hotel and the hospital! "
“ What is interesting is that the players in tourism in Paris were able to mobilize to offer a kind of“ all inclusive ”offer , continues Florent Dargnies, of 4 wheels under an umbrella. We feel a little useful, and the simple fact of going out of crisis management meetings puts a balm on my heart. ”
Read also: Coronavirus: hotels and private homes will provide free accommodation for nursing staff
The initiative, which will serve a dozen doctors and nurses according to the needs of the hospital, received a very warm welcome. " They were not prepared for that, so by offering them a little cocooning, we tell ourselves that it will help them to hold on, " concludes Florence Bonté.
400,000 euros in rent
On the practical side, on the hotel side, the premises are available free of charge, such as water, heating and electricity charges. The hospital provided room staff with hydroalcoholic gel, gloves and masks. Until now, the personnel who volunteered for the operation were still on partial unemployment. The decision to reinstate them in wages has not yet been taken by the company, which already fears for the 400,000 euros in rents that its lessors will demand from it if tourism remains stalled for three months.
