The beginnings of the Cambremer health center were so eagerly awaited that it was necessary to "go get food from a doctor, who could not even take a lunch break", testifies an employee of the community of the agglomeration of Lisieux- Normandy.
The structure, already rich in three nurses, two physiotherapists, a podiatrist and a liberal doctor, welcomed two new general practitioners on Tuesday, February 23.
Not without a particularity: “They are employed by Lisieux-Normandie, specifies Sylvie Feremans, mayor of Cambremer and vice-president of the community of agglomeration.
Unlike a health center, which favors the installation of liberal doctors, it is therefore a health center, the first in Calvados ”.
In the waiting room, Danièle confides her relief: “My doctor left the sector at the end of last year without warning.
Since then, I called everywhere, but no one took a new patient.
However, I have a treatment.
This situation stressed me a lot ”.
She's not the only one.
A year and a half ago, the agglomeration community made a diagnosis of the healthcare offer in its territory.
“We estimated that 10,000 people had no attending physician,” Sylvie Feremans said.
The case of Cambremer and its surroundings was all the more worrying as two general practitioners left recently.
"A tremendous chance"
However, attracting health professionals to rural areas is not easy.
The village of Pays d'Auge was no exception and could not find replacements.
But the formula of the health center has changed the situation.
“Here, there is a secretary, who manages all the administrative aspect.
Doctors know they will be able to focus on their patients.
And then the schedules are more supervised.
»€ 50,000 have been invested to adapt the premises.
And the job offer was quickly satisfied.
"It's a great chance to have this center in Cambremer", smiles Jacqueline.
The retiree had found herself without an attending physician, too.
She accommodates the somewhat lengthened wait for this first day, when the inaugural visits last a little longer than expected, "to get to know each other".
Impossible to alpaguer a health professional, caught in this very dense vortex of meetings.
READ ALSO>
ARS Normandy puts the package on the training of "super-nurses"
Hardly tried, the health center seems already adopted.
Danièle insists: “We must extend the system.
I have friends who, like me, have found themselves doctors.
I can tell you that when you're struggling, you want to see these health centers become more widespread ”.
Morning essentials newsletter
A tour of the news to start the day
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
His wish may be granted.
The urban community of Lisieux-Normandy sees in this first in Cambremer “a laboratory”, which could be replicated in neighboring towns.
And solve, by this option of wage labor, the agonizing deficiency in general practitioners in the territory.
