The tensions speak volumes about the opposition between part of the majority and part of the medical administration.
For several days, against the backdrop of the "third wave" of the Covid-19 epidemic, a trial in political ulterior motives and incompetence has been brought against one of the most senior public health officials: Martin Hirsch.
The director general of Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP), holding a hard line in the face of the health crisis, is presented as the symbol of "white coats" wanting to impose their supervision on the decisions of the executive.
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Read also: Mistrust settles between Martin Hirsch and the executive
First spokesperson of this offensive, the deputy Florian Bachelier (La République en Marche, LREM) accused the senior official, Tuesday on CNews, of behaving
“almost”
like a
“campaign director”
of the socialist mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, critic of the executive's strategy.
"The only thing that Martin Hirsch has planned for a year is to plan nothing
,
"
added the elected Macronist.
Counterattack of the person concerned on Twitter: "
The only campaign I am leading is not political, it is on the health front, with caregivers, for patients".
"Calumny Campaign"
Deemed too alarmist by some Walkers, the number one of the largest French hospital complex is presented as the initiator, behind the scenes, of the forum of the 41 AP-HP crisis medical directors, who had warned against a
" sorting of the sick ”
in
Le Journal du Dimanche
.
"The only forums that I initiate are those that I sign"
, defended Martin Hirsch Wednesday in
Le Figaro
, while supporting strict measures:
"we must curb the epidemic before being at the end rather than slowing down at the last moment".
Read also: Martin Hirsch, in the front row
Sign of a clear break?
Florian Bachelier and Martin Hirsch have extended their military pass in two letters revealed by
Le Parisien
.
In a first text, Wednesday, the boss of the AP-HP says he is the "
target of a campaign of slander"
and asks for an apology from the LREM deputy.
"Do you think the government would leave at the head of the AP-HP a guy who would have his head turned elsewhere during a crisis of this nature?"
, he asks, qualifying as
"complete fabrication"
the role which is lent to him with Anne Hidalgo, potential presidential candidate of 2022, with whom he maintains good relations.
Vitriol Mail
In response, the Walker asked him several questions on Thursday, in a letter steeped in irony:
"What is the exact number of intensive care beds that you have created in the past six months?"
";
"
Do you consider your personal crisis management record to be perfectly flawless?"
The elected received the support of the LREM deputy Anne-Laure Petel, who praised on Twitter his way of
"
dotting
the i's"
, when the senator (The Republicans) Pierre Charon applauded a
"model of response
" facing a "
pretentious and fat official"
.
To read also: Christophe Prudhomme: "It is the gravediggers of the hospital who are today sounding the alarm"
Anxious to calm relations between the executive and the hospital world, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, assured the directors of the AP-HP on Sunday the
"support of the government and the French population
".
Two months after refusing to reconfigure the country despite pressure from some of the doctors, the Head of State for his part spoke on Wednesday of
"additional reinforcements"
to increase to more than 10,000 intensive care beds nationwide .