Emergency Contact Information and Helplines
Hospitals
Doctors in France and Switzerland, General and Specialists
Other Medical Services
Health Insurance
Pharmacies in France and Switzerland
Psychological Support, Advice, Coaching

Emergency Contact Information and Helplines

More emergency info & numbers

• English speaking First Aid Courses in Lausanne and Vevey.
  Contact Info: Email or call Dr. Michelle Wright on +41 79 821 8027
• For more emergency numbers, see the health page of the CERN HR Department.
• Emergency numbers are listed on the third page of the Know-it-all-passport, and in the front of telephone books
• Domestic Violence - Find out where to call

Hospitals

In Switzerland, you may have to pay the total amount of your hospital bill before leaving the hospital and be reimbursed by your insurance afterwards.

Doctors' visits in France are generally much cheaper than in Switzerland. Depending on your health insurance, it is recommended to see a doctor in France. A visit at a general practitioner in France will cost you around 25 EUR. A doctor's visit at the Hôpital de la Tour is around 300 CHF.

General and specialists

• CERN Social Affairs Service in Building 33, Office 1-038, Tel: +41 22 767 42 01, social.affairs@cern.ch
  You may ask them for their lists of General practitioners, Specialists, Dentists and Emergencies in the Pays de Gex and Meyrin indicating the languages they speak.
  

• CERN Medical Service - this site has links to the list of practitioners but you need a CERN ID needed to view. The staff is very helpful - you may want to ask them to refer you to someone, as some medical specialties may differ from country to country.

• Association of Medical Doctors in Geneva (in French) has a searchable database. Click on "Liste des medecins" - there are a number of search options, including speciality and the languages each doctor can speak.

• Ask for a free list of recommended doctors through the website of the Know-it-all passport.

Dental emergencies

Other Medical Services

• Arcade des Sages Femmes
  Midwives in Geneva: Pre- and postnatal assistance, birth preparation, pregnancy consultation, etc.
  Mon: 14.00 - 20.00, Tue to Fri: 14.00 - 17.00, Sat: 9.00 - 12.00
  boulevard Carl Vogt 85, Geneva - +41 22 329 05 55
  

• The English Osteopaths
  28 Rue de Genève, Chêne-Bourg - +41 22 34 24 81
  avenue de Châtalaine 95A, Châtelaine - +41 22 796 17 20

• Nora Hechmati Osteopath
  Centre de soins thérapeutiques, rue François-Ruchon 1, Geneva - +41 22 340 13 35

• Kiddie Club offers First Aid Courses for Parents and Nannies. Check their website for course dates!

• English Speaking Cancer Support
  Our office is open Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and it is located in the Ecumenical Centre, 150 Rte de Ferney in Grand Saconnex.  There is free parking in front of the building.
  ESCA is a non-profit association of volunteers and professionals that offers emotional support, practical help and information in English to cancer patients, their carers and loved ones living in the Geneva, Vaud and French border areas.  We come from all walks of life and from many different countries.  While we speak several different languages among us, our shared language is English. 

• Solidarité Femmes / LAVI Center for local help with domestic violence cases (some English spoken)
• Violencequefaire provides information and mediation for couples
• AODVC (Domestic Violence Center) provides counceling and advice to American women living overseas

CERN Health Insurance

CERN has its own health insurance scheme (CHIS - CERN Health Insurance Scheme) with UNIQA being the Administrator of the scheme. If you are a CERN staff member, a fellow, a student or an apprentice, you will automatically be covered by the CERN scheme. The insurance also covers family members or partners and is valid world-wide, with some restrictions outside Europe.

As a CERN associate, user or a beneficiary of the Pension Fund, you can choose CHIS/UNIQA as your health insurance. Costs can be found on the CERN Health Insurance site. If you have any questions concerning CERN health insurance, please call Erwin Mosselmans, Director of the Social Affairs Service: +41 22 767 41 25 (internal: 741 25).

Health Insurance in Switzerland

If you live in Switzerland, prices for a Swiss health insurance will range from 250 to 400 CHF per month. To compare prices of different insurance companies, check www.comparis.ch.

For general information on insurance, have a look at Insurances-info.

Some insurance companies:

• SwissLife - Contact M. Cormoreche at +41 22 818 36 85
• Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) offers travel insurance that includes repatriation of cars, emergency medical repatriation and trip cancellation.
  

Health Insurance in France
If you live in France, you can also choose a French insurance which covers you in France and in Switzerland. Costs range between 100 and 200 EUR per month, depending on the percentage of reimbursement you choose.

Some insurance companies:

• Assurances Stéphane Pibouleau
  2 rue du Bordeau, St. Genis-Pouilly - +33 450 42 16 32
  They offer very good rates, which are on average 210 EUR/month for a single person,
  350 EUR/month for a family of 3, 480 EUR/month for a family of 5.

• Azur Assurances
  201 Espace Republique, St. Genis-Pouilly - +33 450 28 41 41

Pharmacies in France & Switzerland

If you need medications after normal shopping hours there are stand-by chemists/pharmacies ("pharmacie de garde") open 24 hours a day. They change weekly - for Geneva they are listed at www.pharmacies-geneve.ch. In Switzerland, you can also call 111 (directory assistance) and ask for the "pharmacie de garde" closest to you. Both in Switzerland and in France, you will also find the "pharmacie de garde" in the newspapers (for France check the weekly paper Le Pays Gessien: Société en Vie section under En Garde). Also, a notice is posted on the door of each pharmacy with the name and address of the one that is open.

Most prescriptions cost much less in France. To save money on medicine you may ask your Swiss Doctor to write the prescription using the French name if it exists (names of medications differ between Switzerland and France) and have the prescription filled in France. French pharmacies have a medical reference book where they can find translations.

Homeopathic medicines are of the highest quality in Switzerland and may be found at pharmacies.

CERN Social Affairs Service provides professional counselling and assistance in many situations for CERN staff and family members, ranging from accidents or illnesses to education, divorce, bereavement and financial problems.
Building 33, Office 1-038 - Tel: +41 22 767 42 01 - Social.Affairs@CERN.ch

For addresses of specialists and info check

• AngloInfo
• Know-it-all-passport - Interesting Links - Services

Some recommendations

Steinmann International
Coaching, Training, Development
Désirée Steinmann
Erlenbach (near Zürich) - +41 43 288 08 12
info@steinmann-international.com
Coaching in English and German, in person and over the phone! This may seem like an unusual approach, but it offers
a lot of flexibility and saves travel time and expense.

Agneta Johannsen
Geneva Psychology Practice
Languages: English and German
Coppet, 15 min from Geneva - +41 22 776 06 35
info@genevapsychologypractice.ch

Mentalfitness
Life Coaching and Counseling services
rue Voltaire 2, Geneva - +41 22 310 52 37
info@mentalfitness.ch

Johanna Mulvaney
Psychological counseling services
rue du Rhône 69 (5e étage), Geneva - +41 78 805 73 74
Languages: Swedish, English, French
johanna@genevacounselling.com