This Wednesday, January 26, 2022 is published The Gravediggers, a shocking book in which journalist Victor Castanet denounces serious malfunctions in nursing homes managed by the Orpéa group. The 250 testimonies that make up this survey (conducted over 3 years) illustrate situations of mistreatment as well as a priority given to profitability rather than the well-being of residents.
Hygiene, meals, health… Situations of abuse dictated by profitability
In The Gravediggersseveral testimonials (chilling) report situations of mistreatment, in particular vis-à-vis theresident hygiene. “I stayed there for almost a year, and I’m not telling you how much it was necessary to fight to obtain protections for our residentssays a carer who worked with elderly people called “walking”. We were rationed: it was three diapers a day maximum. And not one more. It doesn’t matter that the resident is sick, that he has gastro, that there is an epidemic.“
About the residents meals, the testimonials are also eloquent. Thus, a former nurse who worked in several Ehpad of the Orpéa group explains that “we have patients who stay in bed all day because we don’t have enough staff to take them down to the dining room. There are patients who do not have breakfast, for lack of staff to bring them lunch. We have patients who we don’t hydrate and to whom we give jellies because we don’t have a hydration pocket.“
Side health, the testimonials are not more positive. In a notice published on Google in April 2018, the grandson of the novelist Françoise Dorin explains that in the space of 3 months, his grandmother lost 20 kilos and the use of speech. In addition, he denounces the insufficient management of a pressure sore “bigger than a fist“, despite the demands of the family.
Ehpad Orpéa: support that sometimes costs more than 7,000 euros per month
In his book-investigation, the journalist Victor Castanet describes dramatic situations that occurred in particular in the Bords de Seine establishment, located in Neuilly-sur-Seine and described as a “upscale retirement home” by the Orpéa group. For an entry-level room on the banks of the Seine, it costs 6,500 euros per month. In other establishments and/or for other services, the bill can go up to 7,000 euros per month.
According to Orpéa’s latest financial report (which covers the first half of 2021), the group’s financial health is doing well with an 8.7% increase in turnover between January and July 2021.
The Orpéa nursing home in Neuilly-sur-Seine has been inspected by the Regional Health Agency (ARS)
Following the revelations of the book published by journalist Victor Castanet, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Île-de-France conducted an inspection on the banks of the Seine this Thursday, January 27, 2022, report our colleagues from France News. Several employees were heard by ARS experts.
The general manager of the Orpéa group, Jean-Christophe Romersi, was meanwhile convened this Tuesday, February 1, 2022 by the Minister Delegate for the Autonomy of the Elderly, Brigitte Bourguignon.
The goal: “hear explanations from the Orpéa group on several points” such as “the allocation to establishments of consumables such as sanitary protection or on issues related to the nutrition of residents“, “the group’s managerial practices concerning personnel, the rate of supervision“, “the procedures for reporting and following up on acts of mistreatment reported by relatives of residents” And “group financial practices“.
In a press release published this Monday, January 24, 2022the Orpéa group states “[contester] formally all of these accusations which we consider to be false, outrageous and prejudicial.“
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