On the eve of the release of a book-investigation on the dark side of nursing homes managed by the company Orpea, the French government plans to launch an investigation against the group.
” We have nothing to hide “says Jean-Christophe Romersi. Asked about BFMTV the day after the publication of extracts from a book-investigation on the practices in his retirement homes, the general manager of Orpea France denounced accusations ” false, offensive and harmful “.
” We do not ration, it does not correspond to our directives, it does not correspond to our values (…) We will never sacrifice the quality of support, the quality of care to any notion of profitability whatsoever “, he said.
We are governed by regulations, laws, controlled by competent authorities. We have always worked with complete transparency.
Jean-Christophe Romersi, CEO of Orpea France
In The Gravediggers – to be published this Wednesday by Fayard, and whose The world published Monday the “good sheets” – the independent journalist Victor Castanet dissects the system of private groups for which old age would have become a business. This 388-page book, the result of three years of investigation and 200 interviews, focuses in particular on the world number one establishment for the elderly: Orpea, which has more than a thousand nursing homes and clinics around the world.
He describes a system where hygiene care, medical care, and even residents’ meals are ” rationed to improve the profitability of the group of private nursing homes. And this while stays are billed at a high price – nearly 6,500 euros per month for a room entry level at the “Les Bords de Seine” residence in Neuilly, points out the author.
The group, which did not wish to speak when writing the survey, will however have to answer the many questions raised by the book. Asked about the subject during the current affairs session at the National Assembly, the French Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced on Tuesday the seizure of Orpea following these serious allegations and which could lead to an investigation. . Governments owe the truth families, caregivers and residents “, did he declare.
Opposition demands action
The oppositions denounce the “ broken promises by Emmanuel Macron on the broader subject of addiction and are calling for action in the face of this new scandal in nursing homes.
” Old people who are left in their excrement because you have to use three diapers a day and not one more, people who are rationed in terms of meals, people who are tied to a bed to have peace “, denounces the deputy PS Christine Pirès-Beaune. In 2018, acts of abuse had already been revealed in other private nursing homes. ” Nothing has happened since “, she insists.
The Socialists are therefore demanding that parliamentarians have the right to impromptu visits to retirement homes. As for the prisons for example.
” What that would change is that when we notice this type of drift we can immediately communicate on it. And believe me, big bands like Orpea, I think they don’t like it at all adds Christine Pirès-Beaune.
The right supports this proposal and goes further. ” What we also propose are general states of dependency so that we can better support financing, end of life and strengthen the autonomy of the elderly. It also means taking care of the staff because the staff in nursing homes suffer. It is clearly a blind spot in Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term “Comments Damien Abad, LR leader in the Assembly.
Before Emmanuel Macron, François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy had also promised a law on dependency without making it.
Damien Abad, on the other hand, defends Xavier Bertrand. The former Minister of Health is implicated by the book-investigation as a presumed political ally of Orpea.
On the far right, Marine Le Pen (RN) calls for a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the management of private nursing homes.
The left of Jean-luc Mélenchon (LFI) asks for the reconstruction of the public sector.
In the meantime, these revelations are already having repercussions on the stock market. The action of the retirement home group plunged 20.35% to 55.18 euros, after a 24-hour suspension of its listing. Other groups in the same sector were affected, including Korian, which lost 4.80% to 22.62 euros, after falling nearly 15% on Monday.
Orpea, leader in a buoyant sector
Over the past 10 years, Orpea has become a world leader, offering a comprehensive range of services for the elderly: nursing homes, private clinics and home help services. The group manages hundreds of establishments in 22 countries in Europe and Latin America. Its leaders raised its growth target to more than 9% for 2021 last November and is now counting on a turnover of 4.27 billion euros.
Orpea operates in a buoyant sector due to the growing number of elderly people, particularly in Western countries. In France alone, the public authorities estimate that 108,000 new places in residential establishments for the elderly will be needed by 2030.