20.01.2025

Meeting with Johann Fournier

21 clinics, 4 language regions, a wide range of professions, but above all: faces and personalities. Welcome to our «one day with» format!

This year, we're exploring the jobs and personalities that make Swiss Medical Network work.

Today we met Johann Fournier.

Johann works in the Admissions Department, in rotation with his 7 other colleagues, and is responsible for the front office (patient reception and all kinds of other information) as well as the back office (admission requests, administration, etc.). He manages all the administrative side of things, from patient admission to discharge!

He is also in charge of his colleagues' monthly schedules and is involved in the Clinique de Valère events committee.

Dear Johann, what does a typical day with you look like?

Well, first of all, it depends on the timetable we've been allocated. My colleagues and I divide our time between the two reception areas - the medical centre and the clinic - and we work different hours. Let's take a day at the main reception.

6:30
The day can start very early, as early as 6:30am, with the reception of patients who come to the clinic for their operation or for some other reason. They are directed to the right department: operation, examination, blood test, wound consultation, etc.

From that point on, and throughout the day, we respond to all requests, whether they come from patients, doctors, staff or visitors. Our aim is to provide the best possible response to everyone who needs us and to so make their work and life easier.

We deal with the front office and back office at the same time, so we often have to interrupt our work to deal with another situation.

During the morning
We mainly deal with patient admissions, process our correspondence and admission requests, and then work on the operating schedule: this is a plan that we send to the doctors and anaesthetists, along with the schedule of operations/patients for the following day, to ensure good organisation.

Patients are then telephoned to inform them of the appointment time for their operation. We remind them what they need to take with them, and answer any final questions they may have - it's important to be reassuring, as we're their last point of contact before the big day!

From 1pm to 4pm, we welcome patients coming for anaesthetic consultations, infusions or wound consultations. We also prepare for the next day's admissions.

At the end of the day
From 4:30pm onwards, we finalise the top priority tasks for the following day, and our role shifts more towards welcoming and providing information to our patients' relatives, who come to visit them. Whenever possible, we try to get a head start on the next day, to facilitate the work of our colleagues and ensure that the morning reception runs more smoothly.

What are the biggest challenges in your job ?

More than a challenge, it's an objective that we set ourselves: to be able to offer patients a welcome that lives up to their expectations, by responding as best we can to their requests, and as quickly as possible.

We're often the first image of the clinic, so I think it's vital to be welcoming. For example, I like to look in our files to see if the patient has been here recently, so that I can give them a personalised welcome. It's a nice little gesture that helps us to do our job properly. It's important to me that the patient feels comfortable in our establishment!

Otherwise, I'd say prioritise your tasks and stay focused, despite the many demands on your time during the day. We're a link in the chain that has to work, and if we forget to place a patient or get a timetable wrong, it can have quite a few repercussions for what happens next.

Finally, I'd say that it's a job that requires you to be very well-informed: we're at the center of all the services and we have to help patients or colleagues/doctors on a wide variety of subjects!

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Every day we have contact with different people, it's never the same and we play a key role. No two days are the same, so you learn a lot and it's very rewarding.

But it's also rewarding to be able to say to yourself that you've been able to be there for patients on a personal level.

How do your colleagues perceive you?

I've heard that people think I'm funny. It's true that I like to use humour to put people at ease: for me, it's important that everyone feels good, especially the newcomers!

What's your passion?

Quite simple: I love football and skiing, and I do them whenever I get the chance.

I know you're shy on the subject... but I've heard that you've even had the chance to play against a great team?

Yes, I did! I was away for three months when I got the news. I followed the draw live, in the middle of a game of minigolf, and was surprised to see that my team would be playing against BSC Young Boys. Unluckily, the match was scheduled for 3 days before my return to Switzerland... I hesitated for days, but finally gave in and went home. The next morning, I was able to play a magnificent match against BSC Young Boys. I was even lucky enough to be offered a player's jersey... which I gave to a youngster a few minutes later... even though I was dreaming about it too, I was happy to see his smile, I saw myself again at his age.

A trip, you say? During your time at Swiss Medical Network?

Exactly. I spent three months in Asia: Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia. I applied a year in advance and my managers were open to granting me this leave. We discussed solutions and agreed on the summer period, which is sometimes a bit quieter. That's great of them, because I'd been wanting to make this big trip for several years.

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