Managing retrenchment in French public hospitals: philosophical and regulatory constraints.

The French hospital system is experiencing economic stresses similar to those experienced by US hospitals. Pressures for cost containment have occurred due to changes in health care funding. The public hospital system is facing unprecedented severe retrenchment. Innovative strategies for managing retrenchment have been restricted by regulatory and philosophical constraints. What is needed is to provide more autonomy for individual hospital managers together with greater accountability for achievement of results.