The National Assembly unanimously approved on Tuesday a cross-party bill aimed at creating a university hospital (CHU) by 2030 in Corsica, the last region of France still deprived of such a structure.
Currently, due to the lack of a university hospital on the island, thousands of patients are forced each year to seek treatment on the continent, which leads to additional costs and "loss of opportunity" for some patients, argued the rapporteur of the text, the deputy for South Corsica Paul-Andre Colombani (Liot), himself a doctor.
Corsica currently has two main hospitals, in Ajaccio and Bastia, but only four or five medical specialty sectors out of the 40 needed to obtain accreditation as a university hospital, Mr. Colombani explained to AFP.
The creation of a university hospital would also allow future Corsican doctors to train entirely on the island, which would then encourage them to practice there, particularly specialists, he continued.
The bill was passed at first reading by 142 votes to 1, and the MP in question later said she had been wrong and wanted to vote for it.
This reform is a "demand (...) long supported by the nationalist family in Corsica" and is the subject of a "total consensus between the population, associations, the university, health professionals and elected officials of the island", he argued in the chamber.
Consensual in the National Assembly, the text has a good chance of being adopted in the same terms in the Senate, assures Mr. Colombani.
"The establishment of a university hospital is not the only solution," judged for his part Tuesday before the deputies the Minister of Higher Education and Research Patrick Hetzel. This "legitimate path" will only succeed in the "medium term," he added, stressing that in the meantime it was especially necessary to "facilitate the training paths of students" in medicine.
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