Signing the Local Health Contract between partners Collectivité, Regional Health Agency ARS and Social Security Department CGSS).
MARIGOT--The Collectivité, Agence Régionale de Santé (ARS) and Caisse Générale de Sécurité Sociale (CGSS) have signed a Local Health Contract (Contrat Locale de Santé (CLS)) valid until 2025. A coordinator has been recruited to monitor the CLS and a steering committee has been set up to meet twice a year.
The CLS reflects a care policy aimed at reducing social and territorial inequalities in public health.
President Louis Mussington recalled that an initial CLS had been signed for the period 2014-2017.
“It was not renewed after the passage of Hurricane Irma and also due to a lack of professionals dedicated to implementing the contract,” he explained. The Collectivité issued a call for tenders to relaunch the scheme and support the implementation of the contract. The tender was won by the research firm Regard Santé.
The CLS is divided into two construction phases. “The second phase will be devoted to drawing up the CLS, which is intended to ensure consistency and coordination between the various plans and schemes piloted by the local authority and those promoted by the ARS, the State and other partners,” Mussington added.
A coordinator, Ly-Ann Sifflet, was recruited in February to “roll out, monitor and evaluate the actions to be carried out under the CLS and the Local Mental Health Councils.” A steering committee has also been set up. “It will meet at least twice a year,” Mussington said.
The CLS defines four areas of work: reducing social and territorial inequalities in health; strengthening prevention and health promotion; improving the attractiveness of the area and retaining healthcare professionals; and improving knowledge of health in the area.
ARS Director Laurent Legendart said the contract “reflects the local authority’s political will to take ownership of health issues.” For CGSS Guadeloupe Director Jean Veron, the signing is “an important moment” given the CGSS’s investment on the island.
“Prevention is a major issue if we are to offer access to health care for all, fight against those who give up on care, ensure that care is offered under the best possible conditions, and pursue this prevention in all sectors, such as mental health, where the coordination of professionals and everyone involved is essential,” he emphasised.
Mussington announced during the signing of the CLS that a partnership was underway with the Guadeloupe public health establishment and Louis-Constant Fleming Hospital to “increase the medical presence, particularly of psychiatrists from Guadeloupe who would come in as reinforcements,” to make up for the lack of certain health professionals in the area.
