"We leave a little piece of ourselves there": he leaves the cardiology department of the Mont-de-Marsan hospital, which he directed for thirty years.

As he claims his retirement rights, Dr. Pierre Rougier retraces the history of a transformed department within the Mons hospital establishment and of a modernized specialty in a generation of doctors.

Officially , he is now on leave and will retire in January 2026. But it is still in the cardiology department of the Mont-de-Marsan Hospital Center, on this Monday, May 5, 2025, that we find Dr. Pierre Rougier to discuss his career. He had letters to finish, follow-up on the last acts, he justifies. And above all, a page of more than thirty-three years of intense activity to turn. This pure Montois, "born in Layné," he specifies with a glance towards another wing of the building, had taken over the cardiology department in February 1992.

"I took over from Dr. Haurie, who entrusted me with his department, who trusted me. I had already been doing replacements for a year and I really liked the team." To say that all the hearts treated at Mont-de-Marsan over the past three decades were his, would be an exaggeration. But he acknowledges that for a (long) period, he was in some way indispensable to cardiology patients. As a result, countless hearts and souls passed through his hands. And to have him relive those years is to understand that he went through them with all his heart and soul, over countless hours. "You leave a little piece of yourself there," he notes modestly. "With the teams who are there and who also work hard, who are enthusiastic."

It's an understatement to say that in a single generation of doctors, cardiology has been revolutionized and the Mons department transformed. Dr. Rougier was both a witness and a driving force behind these changes. In fact, why this specialty? "A revelation" after completing an internship in Professor Broustet's department at Haut-Lévêque, in Bordeaux. "Thanks to his approach to cardiology. At the time, in the 1980s, many techniques didn't exist," he recalls. "Ultrasound was in its infancy, angioplasty didn't exist. Things have changed a lot since my studies."

When he took up his post at 31, Pierre Rougier was the only full-time cardiologist in the department. "My main concern was to develop intensive care services so that the people of Mons could be treated on-site, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The premises were there, but we had to create on-site shifts and procedures, and comply with evolving medical recommendations. That meant ensuring patient reception, care, and being there," he summarizes.

Installing pacemakers and defibrillators—all of this interventional care—couldn't be done without the intensive care unit. "Before, when a heart attack occurred, we treated it, monitored for complications, and sent the patient to angioplasty centers in the region. Now, that transfer delay is eliminated because we operate here."

As activity increased, and so did the demands, it was necessary to recruit staff. A half-time position, then a second full-time position starting in 2011. "That's where we recruited to ensure continuity of care and to have dedicated rooms for activities."

The department now has seven doctors, "with colleagues who have subspecialties, in coronary angiography, rhythm therapy, etc. When I started, angioplasty was surgery; we performed bypasses. The techniques have evolved, the equipment is more efficient, safer. The profession has changed; there has been tremendous progress in thirty years."

“I feel like I’ve always known the hospital under construction!”

Today, you have to walk through long corridors from the entrance of the brand new building, inaugurated at the end of last year , to reach the cardiology department in the part renovated in 2014, with the emergency unit. "I feel like I've always known the hospital under construction!" he smiles. It's like the evolution of medicine, you can see that it's never-ending."

The 34-bed unit may continue to expand under his successor, Dr. Corina Moldovan, "simply because of the demand for consultations. And because we have more tools to treat patients. But in reality, the entire hospital is under constant strain," says Pierre Rougier.

"He held the fort," summarize Odette, Stéphanie, and Émilie at the medical office. "He was my spiritual father," adds the latter. "Many patients will miss him. How many times have we heard: 'He saved my life!'" "We did the job, we're trained for that," replies the cardiologist humbly. "And then there are others who save lives in other specialties. Of course, there are real emergencies. For a heart attack, you have to be there," he agrees.

These future ex-colleagues also praise his extraordinary memory. "When he saw a patient, he remembered the file, no need to look at the computer." "It was somewhat necessary because I didn't have much time, so everything had to happen quickly," admits the doctor. How much time, exactly, did he spend at the hospital? "A lot," he replies with a smile. "I don't have any particular regrets. I would have liked to spend more time with my family, but like in any other profession that requires a lot of investment."

Touched by the attention of patients he had been treating for a long time, upon the announcement of his departure, Dr. Rougier now intends to devote himself to his family, his grandson, and his wife, a hygienist doctor at the Montois hospital, who retired a few months ago – "It's about getting our violins in sync." However, he hasn't heard the last of the cardiology department at the Mont-de-Marsan hospital or the medical world, with three children, one a dentist in Saint-Sever, one a doctor in Layné, and the other a nurse in Haut-Lévêque. Or with his former patients who will now see him more often on Saturday mornings at the Saint-Roch market.