ENTREPRENEURSHIP PRIZE

Lucile Bufarull

"You can't do this job if you have a big ego”

Entrepreneurial skills came naturally to this trained nurse. "When I was working in the hospital, patients were asking to return to their homes, but those with complex medical conditions were often told that there were no suitable means. I have always thought it essential to be able to offer this choice," says the entrepreneur who founded Pôle Domicile and then Ad'Vitae. "By moving teams around, patients can generally be allowed to stay alone at home in a medical bed. I wanted to offer solutions that encourage in-home care.”

“Healthy human relationships”

So Lucile employs carers to prepare meals at home, as well as nurse coordinators, who provide the link between health establishments and patients' homes: "Working in a multidisciplinary team is a constant challenge and this job is a life lesson. When people agree to let you into their homes, sometimes to sedate them in their dying moments, there is no more pretence. And what makes it possible to deal with this mental and physical suffering is precisely this team spirit.” Lucile is the mother of two children and also works with her husband. "He has been by my side from the beginning, when I was spending my weekends on my spreadsheets, then one day he joined us. I was managing the business and he had to find his place," Lucile recounts with simplicity. What did she come looking for in the FCE Cannes network? Values in which she recognises herself, and this conviviality that allows her to free herself from the heavy mental load that managing a business represents. "Following a workshop that we did, I have even started running. That's the FCE effect!

Localisation : Vallauris (Agence secondaire à Nice) - Création : 2011 - Activité : Aide à domicile - Dirigeant : Lucile Bufarull  - Capital : 3 000 € - Collaborateurs : 120 (8 encadrants et 112 aides à domicile)

Pôle Domicile

This company with more than 120 employees works with dependent people, whether because of age, progressive illness, or a disability. Tasks include daily assistance (household maintenance, laundry, meals etc.), personal assistance (mobility assistance, washing, memory activities etc.) as well as administrative assistance. A range of activities that Lucile Bufarull has completed by founding Ad'Vitae, a home health care provider specialising in supporting palliative care patients at home in Alpes Maritimes and the Var. Her nurse coordinators set up the medical infusion equipment, in liaison with attending doctors, hospitals and private nurses. Services ranging from setting up a medical bed to prescription management enable the patient's condition to be monitored 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Faced with the current health crisis, Lucile Bufarull has also pooled her teams, equipment, and skills to enable COVID patients to stay at home and relieve hospital congestion.