Français
The news broke in the middle of last week. A few days after announcing the departure of Anne Calais, interim director of the Saint-Martin hospital, the Agence régionale de santé (ARS) entrusted the management of the Saint-Martin health facility to Éric Djamakorzian, Director of the Irénée de Bruyn hospital in Saint-Barthélemy. This mission immediately aroused the concern of staff and the discontent of the president of the hospital's supervisory board, Marie-Hélène Bernier.
For Éric Djamakorzian, who took up his post as director in Saint-Barthélemy at the beginning of May, "it's normal that the ARS should have made this request to the nearest director to take over as interim director". In fact, there's nothing unusual about such a request. In the absence of the head of a facility, it is common for one of his or her colleagues, himself or herself head of another structure, to be mandated to manage the facility until a replacement can be found. So this could be a non-event. Nevertheless, given the context and respective situations of the Saint-Barth and Saint-Martin hospitals, this imposed interim raises as many questions as difficulties.
No loss of "momentum" in Saint-Barth
Initially, Eric Djamakorzian was careful to reassure his troops. My time will be divided between the two establishments," he explains. Pending the appointment of a new director for Saint-Martin. The difficulty is that an interim director must not make decisions that affect the future of the establishment. But other decisions must be taken on issues that cannot be postponed. "The director of the Irénée de Bruyn hospital will therefore have to become a contortionist to ensure the smooth running of both hospitals. However, he is adamant: "I'll make sure that the momentum generated in Saint-Barthélemy continues. There's no need to worry about that. "When he travels to Saint-Martin to take up his duties, a health executive will deputize for him on Saint-Barth.
As mentioned above, this interim appointment takes place in a very special context. Indeed, since the start of the new term of office in March 2022, the Collectivité territoriale, through its first vice-president Marie-Hélène Bernier, has been fighting for the de Bruyn hospital to be given its own management. To achieve this, the supervisory board voted to remove Bruyn hospital from the joint management structure, in order to force the ARS to appoint a director in Saint-Barth. Meanwhile, the situation on Saint-Martin has deteriorated considerably.
Lampis-Pattus still on sick leave
Contested by some staff since taking up her post in 2019, the director of Saint-Martin's (and Saint-Barthélemy's, at the time) healthcare facilities, Marie-Antoinette Lampis-Pattus, has since jumped ship. During 2023, the announcement of her retirement for health reasons was followed, in July, by the appointment of Anne Calais as interim director. Anne's presence at the hospital helped facilitate the process of obtaining its own director. But the sudden departure of Anne Calais, for reasons yet to be officially revealed, has once again plunged the hospitals of the Northern Isles into a shaky situation. In more ways than one.
Indeed, the main question surrounding the interim appointment of Eric Djamakorzian concerns the duration of this mission. As Djamakorzian explained, his mandate is to officiate "for an indeterminate period". However, there is nothing to suggest that he will be appointed head of the Saint-Martin hospital in the near future. This is mainly due to the fact that, officially, the current director is still Marie-Antoinette Lampis-Pattus. Because of her current status, "on sick leave", the Agence régionale de santé cannot replace her. Only an interim director can fill the position. Contacted twice (Tuesday September 3 and Wednesday September 4) by JSB, the ARS Director General for Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy - Laurent Legendart - did not deign to reply and, thus, provide clarification on the situation.
