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In Saint-Barthélemy, as soon as the subjects of education and health are broached, a third inevitably enters the conversation: housing. Because their rent is too expensive for a public service salary (and not only), because their surface area is often unsuitable, or because it's complicated to find one that's available. And when it is available, it's either too expensive or unsuitable for the search. Whatever the case, while the problem and its consequences are regularly raised, solutions are hard to come by. And the first people to fall victim are those who, for one reason or another, "lose" their homes. This is particularly true of Jérôme Souied, one of the five emergency physicians at the Irénée de Bruyn hospital.
"It's hard to leave in these conditions", he says.
He has been treating patients at the island's health facility for nineteen years. He first came from Guadeloupe as a locum between 2006 and 2010, before settling in Saint-Barthélemy, where he started a family. The family had been living in the same home for over thirteen years when, at the beginning of August, the owner informed him that he intended to repossess his property. "For his own reasons", says the practitioner soberly, questioning the suddenness and temporality of the announcement. I have a very hard time with this approach," he admits. It leaves us virtually no opportunity to turn around. "After all, we'll be moving back in at the end of October.
Needless to say, the doctor has not been idle in the hope of being allocated accommodation. We tried to find accommodation through our acquaintances, social networks and even the hospital, but it's not an estate agency," he explains. The Collectivité has housing, but it's already been allocated. "And a 45-square-meter T3 for a family of four is cramped, to say the least. As is often the case in such cases, weeks go by and no solution emerges. Reluctantly, the emergency doctor and his family are seriously considering leaving. "It would be really hard for me to leave in these conditions, for my home and out of respect for all the families I've cared for so far," breathes Jérôme Souied.
An island with few doctors
A decent home and rent that's not "crazy", that's all the practitioner is asking for. In an increasingly worrying medical context, a new departure of doctors would not augur well for health on Saint-Barthélemy. The island now has just four general practitioners. This compares with eight just eighteen months ago. Although a fifth is in the process of being installed, Saint-Barth is now on the list of under-resourced territories. As for the team of hospital emergency physicians, it remains limited to ensure the smooth running of the establishment. As a result, an additional departure will have significant consequences in the very short term.
Seeing the housing window gradually closing, Dr Souied naturally decided to prospect. Only to find that hospitals everywhere else were sending him a welcome message. But having to leave for such reasons, and leaving an island where his children were born in such conditions, he admits, "would be a shame". So he clings to the hope that a landowner will hear his call. But he reveals his fear: "My next message will probably be to announce a house sale..." Unless someone wants to keep a family attached to Saint-Barth among their neighbors and, by the same token, a hospital practitioner who has officiated on the island for nineteen years.
Contact: To reach Dr Jérôme Souied: j.souied@chsaintbarth.fr
