Le Figaro Nantes
A rental of two wheels, but of a special kind.
Since the end of January, the Nantes University Hospital has been experimenting with a self-service wheelchair system intended for visitors and even patients of the hospital center.
Stations, terminals, ease of use... The model proposed by the Israeli company Wheelshare declines the classic operating mode of a shared bicycle service, in the style of the Parisian Vélib' or the Nantes Bicloo.
These self-service chairs are free to use for 4 hours.
Beyond this duration, freedom costs 2 euros per hour of additional use - automated billing by the compulsory registration of a credit card and a telephone number to be able to access a wheelchair.
Simplify travel
Indeed, if the service was implemented, it is also because the already existing fleet of wheelchairs tended to be scattered within the hospital center.
Even getting lost.
“There was never any guarantee that the armchairs that we traditionally lend from the premises near the various accesses to the center would return precisely to the place from which they were borrowed
,” explains to
Figaro
Orianne le Gabellec, coordinator of the reception policy of the Nantes University Hospital.
“The advantage of the stations and the pricing system is that we can ensure the safe return of the chairs
,” she adds.
The hospital center's receptionists will be responsible for helping older people who might be intimidated by the technology associated with Wheelshare stations - which younger people and the working population are more familiar with.
Paramedics will also have,
“soon”
, their own dedicated card, allowing them free access to chairs.
“We aim to improve the accessibility of the University Hospital and simplify travel, by adapting services to needs
,” summarizes Orianne le Gabellec.
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The management of the CHU specifies that for the moment this is only an experiment.
A first station was installed at the end of January in the main hall of the Hôtel-Dieu;
a second was deployed at the beginning of the week, near the pediatrics department, which is incidentally not far from the access to the hospital center parking lot.
In total, 14 armchairs were ordered;
they complement the older seats still available on their premises.
A progress report on the continuation or not of this service is scheduled for April.