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For an accurate analysis of the public hospital crisis, we need reliable indicators. Yet the assessment of quality of care remains opaque in France. Difficulties in accessing hospital care, particularly in emergency departments, are as much a reflection of the state of non-hospital-based care as they are of hospitals. In the absence of easy access to a local doctor, the hospital becomes the only recourse available. If hospitals are to remain places of excellence, they must appeal to the best practitioners. However, university hospitals suffer from biased recruitment based on criteria that favor fundamental research to the detriment of clinical research, while smaller hospitals lack attractive technical facilities. The lack of attractiveness for health care staff is also linked to rigid pay scales, disconnected from differences in the cost of living in different parts of the country, and from individual performance. Hospitals must remain places where the French go both by choice—for scheduled care—and in emergencies. To achieve this, it is high time to review the organization of hospital management.