Major French hospital federations expressed concern on Monday about government plans to transfer responsibilities and funding to departments in health, at the expense of the current Regional Health Agencies.
"It would be very dangerous" to entrust the regulation of the primary care system "at the departmental level," the FHF (public hospitals), the FHP (private hospitals), the Fehap (non-profit private) and the Fnehad (home hospitalization) indicated in a statement.
"This direction is all the more surprising given that the Prime Minister himself stressed the need not to multiply spaces for co-decision," they said.
The federations are also concerned about the idea of transferring part of the proceeds of the CSG (general social contribution) to the departments, which "risks greatly increasing territorial inequalities, without resolving the structural issues of financing".
The Regional Health Agencies (13 in metropolitan France, 5 overseas) are public institutions of the State, which bring together approximately 8,000 employees.
In particular, they grant operating licenses to hospital establishments.
On Friday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu declared himself in favor of a "profound reform" of the ARS.
"How can we explain that local healthcare planning is still managed by a regional agency, when the departmental councils" which "have completed multidisciplinary health centers in recent years can do it?" asked Sébastien Lecornu before the French Departments Assembly.
Health Minister Stéphanie Rist, for her part, declared on RTL on Monday morning that "starting this week, (she) is launching a massive simplification movement of our health administration."
Ms. Rist particularly regretted that in her department of Loiret, the ARS Centre Val-de-Loire opposed the installation of an additional MRI (medical imaging), despite the support of local elected officials for this project.
"When the departments, when the elected officials of the territory consider that it is necessary to do it (and) that they have the funding on hand, it is not up to the central administration to say 'it is authorized or not'," said Ms. Rist.
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