Where the patient counts

Dr. Marie-France Panzani-Orth was always strong in business

The Hôpital Pasteur and the faculty of medicine have been located in the district for some years now. The new complex called Pasteur II will include seven buildings that will spread over 165,000 sqm. Despite exceeding its 312 million euro budget the 700 additional beds and 25 new operating theatres will be just some of the benefits that it offers. According to the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) in Nice, the architect Bernard Reichen has planned the site like a town and included a number of open spaces.

Just around the corner from this monumental public health project, is the clinic Saint François where the individual's comfort has been the focus of all concerned for more than half a century.

Founded in 1958 by Xavier Panzani, the hospital first specialised in neuropsychiatry and neurosurgery. In 1965 the hospital extended their expertise to include eye, nose, ear and throat treatment. Since 1992 Xavier’s daughter Marie-France Panzani-Orth has run the institution, where today 60 doctors are working.  

"I wanted to develop the hospital even further, that is to say push even harder for what I was fighting for", she says. She appears relaxed and her gaze shifts to the hospital gardens, which are now in full bloom. "One big challenge was to keep a balance between high quality and pa-tient-friendly services. The individual's dignity and comfort in a pleasant surrounding is very important to us."

She explains that she was originally "programmed" to study medicine, but after a short time she became aware that her best skill was business management.

But isn't it difficult as a woman to stand your ground with 100 employees and 60 physicians? "My medicine degree helped me a lot. I am taken seriously in discussions, because I know what I am talking about. Being female is actually a plus. Women get to the core of things and never give up. I am someone who is perfectly comfortable with who I am and don’t envy men at all", she laughs.

More than 6 million euros have been invested in the modernisation of the hospital since 1996.
Today it accommodates six surgical rooms where up to 5000 different kinds of surgery are practiced every year. Due to its good reputation, the institution also counts numerous VIPs in its list of patients.

Development plans in the future include a building with a GP surgery, a public restaurant and a day nursery. Marie-France Panzani-Orth hopes that these projects will be finished around the same time as the Pasteur II is completed, the "21st century's hospital".

PH/LS