Between the Avec Group, which has a sulphurous reputation, and Adef Residences, especially active in the nursing home sector, the candidates for the takeover of the Gascony clinic are not unanimous.
There are buyers for the Clinique de Gascogne, but what are their offers worth? Two candidates are in the running to take over the health establishment, in great financial difficulty and placed in receivership to allow the maintenance of the activity. Time is running out: at the end of November, the commercial court examines the takeover offers. And in January, the ax will fall. Either the supply will be sufficient or the clinic will close.
At stake, almost half of the surgical activity of the department, and more than a hundred jobs. An outcome that no one wants to hear about, whether elected politicians or health services.
Applications
First to present itself, the Group With, whose name circulates a lot in the medical and political microcosm of Gers. This powerful machine, led by Bernard Bensaid, has been practicing since the 2010s the acquisition of structures in poor financial condition throughout France, generally in medium-sized towns.
In several cases, as in Grenoble, in Plombière-les-bains, Bernard Bensaid encountered difficulties. The man also advocates management of human resources and pooling of resources that are worrying. On the side of the group With, we refuse for the time being to formalize an application. “It gives me the effect of a Bernard Tapie of health, slips an elected Auscitain, for whom this is not a compliment. He too bought companies that were not doing well…”
The second candidate is Adef Résidences. A surprising name in this case, because Adef Residences is not an actor in the medical field. A non-profit association, this potential buyer, which manages 39 Ehpad, 15 handicap structures and two health establishments, is a medico-social service provider. An activity that has little in common with the management of a private clinic specializing in outpatients. This candidacy is, however, official.
A third name is mentioned, but is not really in the running. The medical community is counting on the interest of Clinipole, a regional group, mainly established in the Hérault sector, but also in the Gers, where it manages the Hélios specialized reception center in Saint-Germé, and the IME SESSAD Terre d flight to Condom. Clinipole did not apply.
Without replacement
On the side of the employees, the concern is real to see the establishment disappear. “If the clinic closes, there will be no reopening, says Justine Boyer, the FO secretary of the CSE. The care offer will leave for Toulouse, and it will be impossible to bring it back. The only short-term solution: that surgeons work in the hospital, with a specific agreement for each practitioner. Another possibility is the construction of other premises. This would require nearly 18 months of work.
We are far from the ambitions of Jean Castex, when he announced on February 14 a new hospital welcoming on a single site a public pole and a private pole… Will the future hospital be able to absorb the specialties offered by the Gascony clinic in the case of a disappearance of this establishment? According to the ARS, the only possibility would then be to establish cooperation with the Toulouse University Hospital, to bring this care to Auch. “But we are talking about a 10-year project. Until then, we had the objective of having everyone work together. The difficulties in engaging in dialogue, despite public health issues, undermine the hope of finding a happy ending to this descent into Hell of the clinic.
The surgeons shun the appointment
There was a meeting scheduled for Thursday, October 6, between the surgeons and doctors of the Clinique de Gascogne, and the Auch hospital. The medical professionals canceled the appointment, on the pretext that they would prefer to wait for discussions with possible buyers. In essence, they refuse to practice anywhere other than the clinic’s current site.
The rent of the clinic is however one of the elements that weigh down the budget of the clinic: nearly one million euros, paid to ICADE, a real estate company backed by the Caisse des dépôts et consignations. The other element is to be found on the side of the decisions taken by the former owner of the clinic, Elsan, who had negotiated the passage into employees of certain doctors surgeons. Very heavy payroll costs, again, that the activity of the clinic has never been able to compensate for.