L-R: Dr Guillaume Steichen, Secretary General of AMMD; Paulette Lenert, Luxembourg's Minister of Health; Maurice Bauer, Alderman of the City of Luxembourg; Credit: MSAN

On Thursday 5 August 2021, Luxembourg's Minister of Health, Paulette Lenert, accompanied by Maurice Bauer, Alderman of the City of Luxembourg, and Dr Guillaume Steichen, Secretary General of the AMMD doctors and dentists' association, inaugurated the new out-of-hours medical clinic (maison médicale) for the central region of the Grand Duchy.

The medical centre has moved from Rue Michel Welter to 23 Val Fleuri and is now located near the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL). It will open its doors to patients on 2 September 2021. Until then, the old medical clinic will remain in service.

Luxembourg currently has three such medical clinics, which were created in the centre, south and north of the country to ensure the continuity of medical care, except in emergencies, when general practitioners' practices are closed (i.e. at night, on weekends and during holidays). The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that the existing medical clinics were no longer suited to the management of the growing number of patients.

According to the Ministry of Health, the medical clinic in Val Fleuri has many advantages: its design makes it possible to accommodate patients in the context of permanent care in general medicine, as well as patients on separate channels requiring specific care (e.g. those displaying signs of COVID-19 infection). It also has the necessary storage facilities in the event of a pandemic. Technical equipment is at the cutting edge of progress (ventilation, waiting rooms and consultation rooms, etc.) and meets health requirements.

“Primary care is an important pillar of our health system and every patient must have access to the best possible care. Here patients are welcomed in optimal conditions and will no longer need to go directly to the emergency room for minor health problems that do not justify overcrowding hospital emergencies. The opening of this new medical clinic marks a big step forward in improving care, the patient journey as well as compliance with new health requirements”, explained the Health Minister.

This new structure offers, if necessary, additional and multidisciplinary services to better meet the needs of the population, larger and spacious areas, as well as improved accessibility by car and public transport. In its newly equipped premises, everything has been designed to offer comfort and well-being to patients and an optimised and pleasant working environment for doctors.

Dr Guillaume Steichen added that “the inauguration of this new medical clinic reflects the political will to improve the visibility of primary care and to promote the general practitioner / family doctor. The general practitioner providing primary care must be the cornerstone in the medical journey of each individual and especially of patients with chronic diseases”.

In September 2021, the medical clinic in Esch-sur-Alzette will move from Avenue du Swing in Belval-Sanem to the Southlane Tower, near Belval train station, the future Südspidol hospital and the University of Luxembourg. The medical clinic in Ettelbruck will be integrated into the new “Ettelbréck ONE” project on the former site of the Heintz van Landewyck factory (Avenue des Alliés 86).

“With the three new sites, we will be able to offer optimal care at the level of primary health care in a modern environment that meets both the needs of the population and of general practitioners, in close collaboration with the AMMD and the Cercle des médecins généralistes (CMG)”, noted Minister Paulette Lenert.

The new medical clinics, which are flexible according to health needs, are set tos become a strategic link in the organisation of primary care in Luxembourg.

Patients must make an appointment via tel.: 203-33111or online via one of the following links:

Reservations are possible from 19:00 on weekdays and from 07:00 on weekends and holidays.

After midnight, patients must call 112. The phone call will be forwarded to the doctor on call at one of the medical clinics who will contact the patient as soon as possible. If necessary, the doctor may make a house call depending on availability, as well as the pathologies and circumstances underlying the patient's request for care.

A logo (pictured below) has been created to give medical clinics an identity, visibility and presence in the Luxembourg medical landscape.