Sébastien Lecornu announces €130 million for France Santé centers in 2026

“We are going to amend the Social Security budget bill with a sum of 130 million euros” for the France Santé centers, Sébastien Lecornu declared on Thursday during a visit to Carentan, in the Manche department. Lecornu had announced the launch of these France Santé centers during his first official visit as head of government to Mâcon, but without providing many details about his project until now. The France Santé centers will be existing structures such as health centers (run by independent physicians) or community health centers (where salaried doctors work), each of which will receive a “lump sum of 50,000 euros,” Lecornu explained in Carentan.

According to a government source, to obtain the France Santé label, these centers will have to meet "at least four essential criteria": guaranteed presence of a doctor and a nurse, no additional fees, opening at least five days a week, and accepting patients referred by the 15 emergency medical services. "The €50,000 can be used to protect" the facilities, "carry out renovations, hire a medical secretary, to support the arrival of a new healthcare professional, a physiotherapist, etc.," stated Sébastien Lecornu. "Sometimes, pharmacies will serve as the France Santé center because in some rural areas, the only healthcare provider you have is the pharmacy," he continued.

An ambitious territorial network

“I hope that we will have 15 to 20 France Santé centers accredited by Christmas per department,” he stated, adding, “and then we need a very rapid ramp-up to reach 2,000 centers.” According to a government source, the objective is to reach 2,000 “by summer 2026” and 5,000 “by 2027.”

Sébastien Lecornu also expressed his support for the parliamentary debate "easing the pressure on savings" regarding hospitals. The current text, prepared by the previous government of François Bayrou, stipulates that hospital spending (public and private) will increase by 2.4%, an amount deemed largely insufficient by the French Federation of Public Hospitals (FHF). The FHF believes that it will actually result in the "largest price reduction" for hospitals in about twenty years.