The State is filing a complaint against the group of private nursing homes Orpea and will request the reimbursement of public grants allegedly diverted from their purposes, announced this Saturday on France Inter the Minister responsible for Autonomy, Brigitte Bourguignon. This decision is based on a report from administrative inspections that the government will not, however, make public.
“In view of serious dysfunctions, we are able to tell you that the State is lodging a complaint and seizing the public prosecutor” and “we are asking for the restitution” of public grants presumed to have been diverted from their purposes, said the minister. The investigation report, drawn up by the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) and that of Social Affairs (IGAS) seized by the government on February 1, reports “significant dysfunctions in the organization of the group, to the detriment of the care of residents,” the ministry said in a statement.
Business secrets
Eagerly awaited for weeks, this report will however not be made public, because it is covered by “business secrecy”, Ms. Bourguignon’s cabinet told AFP. On March 11, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran had however affirmed that he intended to publish part of this document, more exactly “all of it, with the exception of what is covered by business secrecy”.
The publication in February of the book-investigation The gravediggerswhere journalist Victor Castanet accuses the private group Orpea of having set up a “system” to optimize its profits to the detriment of the well-being of residents and employees, had created a real earthquake within the sector.