Clément Bargain, edited by Yanis Darras 07:08, September 21, 2022

Gas, electricity, oil… As winter approaches, rising energy prices are worrying individuals and professionals.

On the front line, the hospital world and private clinics.

And at the Saint-Côme polyclinic in Compiègne in the Oise, faced with inflation, it is difficult to maintain a balance.

In the basement of the polyclinic of Saint-Côme in Compiègne in the Oise, there is a gold mine.

This is where all the medical equipment is stored.

In large boxes are stored sheets and tools necessary for the operations carried out in the operating room.

Essential equipment, which is largely affected by inflation.

Their price has increased by 7 to 9% in recent months, assures the medical team.

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No expense items spared

"The basic minimum for a given intervention is quickly amounts to 20 or even 30,000 euros", explains at the microphone of Europe 1, the director of the Saint-Côme polyclinic, Vincent Vesselle.

And all the expenditure items are increasing, we emphasize at the clinic: equipment, logistics, but also and above all energy.

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"In an establishment like Saint-Côme, the cost of gas and electricity is €600,000 per year. So, if you take a 20 to 30% price increase, you can imagine the amount that is" , warns the director. 

"We don't find ourselves there"

But while the cost of the clinic increases as inflation progresses, it is impossible for the management to increase its prices, which are exclusively set by the State and which do not take inflation into account.

“We had a private rate increase of 0.7% on March 1, 2022, while inflation is currently at 6%. With this delta, we cannot find our way around”, underlines Vincent Vesselle. 

"A clinic that loses money, potentially, it can end up in bankruptcy," he adds.

Because the average margin of clinics like that of Saint-Côme is indeed less than 2%.

The only solution: increase the price of private rooms.

But that will not be enough to regain balance, we warn in Compiègne.