Purpose of research: This study, conducted at the initiative of the French academic college of public health, aimed to describe, from the point of view of public health physicians, the outlines and organization of public health activities within French university hospitals. In the first half of 2018, a survey was sent to physicians in charge of public health specialties and to chiefs of public health divisions from the 41 French university hospitals. The survey was supplemented by 10 telephone interviews.
Results: Among the 33 hospitals from which we received answers, 28 had a division that encompassed the majority of public health activities, usually combined with other disciplines (occupational medicine, pharmacy…). The existence of a public health division improved the visibility of this specialty and allowed to leverage its strengths. Epidemiology, biostatistics and health information were the most represented activities. Several public health activities were shared with other divisions and directions (healthcare quality and safety, infection control, etc.), due, in part, to a lack of public health physicians. Most respondents cited health promotion, health economics and big data analytics as activities that need to be developed in their institution.
Conclusion: While most institutions have an identified public health division, their organizations are still heterogeneous and constantly evolving. Despite several difficulties, hospital public health activities are more diversified than before, but need the collaboration of extra hospital public health departments to progress.