The opening ceremony, tourism, transportation, security… But what about healthcare? With over fifteen million tourists expected in Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games, hospitals will need to reinforce their teams during the summer. Not just for athletes, with a temporary clinic reserved for them in the heart of the Olympic village in Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis). But also for Mr. and Mrs. Everybody, residents, workers, and tourists… How to convince healthcare professionals to postpone their vacations during the summer, when hospitals continue to struggle to attract and retain them? A sensitive subject.
“There are many rumors, but we don’t have any information about the official procedure for what will happen this summer. For now, the only request is to submit our annual vacation requests at the beginning of November,” says a nurse from Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP).
The poster displayed in their department encourages them to take their vacations before November 2, instead of the usual March. Without knowing that an “Olympic Games bonus” is in the works – at least at AP-HP, according to emails seen by Le Parisien – and was on the agenda of a central social and economic committee meeting last week with the CEO.
This bonus “would reward the efforts made by all those who work in a service mobilized by the Olympics and have not been able to take three consecutive weeks of vacation from July 1 to August 31,” it reads.
€2,500 gross for doctors (€500 per day). For hospital category A employees (including nurses), €1,200 gross per week; €1,000 for those in category B (hospital technicians, middle managers), and €800 gross for category C (nursing assistants, workers…). One week is equivalent to 35 hours of unused leave.
This applies to those who have to split their vacations before and after the Olympics. “€800 gross, when you have to find childcare during the summer, if you don’t have family nearby and have to pay for a nanny or a summer camp, that’s no longer a bonus,” notes FO union members.
Certain departments are particularly targeted in the internal document: “Around sixty out of the 800 at AP-HP, spread across 17 sites, as well as pre-hospital emergency services (Samu, Smur).” More beds as well. “In total, the additional capacity compared to August 2022 will be 340 beds, 4 operating rooms, and 6 Smur crews. This represents an increase of less than 5% compared to the beds usually open in August.” And no beds without staff. “To allow for these additional bed openings, approximately 730 additional medical and paramedical professionals will be mobilized compared to previous summers.”
In the event of an “exceptional health situation,” such as an attack, nothing is excluded. “The usual mechanisms will be used to bring in reinforcements within a few hours.” Lists of people “mobilizable in the event of a crisis” will be established. The professionals thus called upon, the text specifies, will benefit from the usual reimbursement of their transportation expenses and compensation for the work done during their vacations.
The Île-de-France Regional Health Agency indicates that 12 healthcare institutions, in addition to those of AP-HP, have been identified as “frontline institutions,” “due to their geographical proximity to the Olympic sites and the specific challenges these institutions may face during the 2024 Olympics.” But “all healthcare institutions in Île-de-France will be required to contribute to the collective organization effort depending on the needs.” The challenge now is to identify volunteers.
Who will cover these bonuses? “We will communicate on the subject of the Olympics by the end of the year, in coordination with our other partners,” answers AP-HP. The authorities are also remaining silent. The Regional Health Agency (ARS), Ministry, and IOC have not yet provided details on the financing of the bonuses and their distribution.
On the ground, nurses, doctors, department heads in Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Yvelines, Seine-Saint-Denis… are all in the dark. All the healthcare professionals contacted by Le Parisien, whether working at AP-HP or not, in the public or private sector, know nothing about potential bonuses.
Including this person responsible for the working group convened by the Regional Health Agency on the Olympics. “It’s always the same thing, if we want to mobilize, we have to provide the means,” he insists. “It’s not normal to spend so much money on this event when we don’t even have the means to pay our staff sustainably.”
Near the Stade de France, the Olympic swimming pool, and the future Olympic village, Mathias Wargon, head of emergency services at Delafontaine Hospital (Saint-Denis), warns, “It is clear that there will need to be bonuses – and the same ones in all hospitals. We can’t just give bonuses to AP, at the risk of encouraging service abandonment without a bonus and exposing ourselves to the risk of a strike.”
Added to the difficulties of traffic and access to their workplace – 185 km of corridors will be closed to traffic on the A1 and A13, for example – he fears that the situation will instead strengthen the desire of healthcare professionals to leave, just before the Olympics.
