It is an unfortunate coincidence of the calendar. This Tuesday, the new management of Orpea presented its plan to put the group of private retirement homes, in bad financial shape, back on track. On the same day, the gendarmes of the Central Office for the fight against attacks on the environment and public health (Oclaesp), who are working within the framework of a preliminary investigation for “institutional mistreatment” carried out in Nanterre (Hauts- de-Seine), carried out searches throughout France. In their sights: a dozen establishments for dependent elderly people managed by the group, present in 23 countries. 20 minutes review the case.
What is Orpea accused of?
World leader in retirement homes, the Orpea group, which manages more than 350 establishments in France, has been in turmoil since the publication last January of the investigative book The Gravediggers (ed. Fayard), written by Victor Castanet. Elderly people “rationed”, abandoned in their excrement or left without care for days… Supporting testimonies, the journalist reveals numerous cases of mistreatment in the group’s nursing homes and denounces the misuse of public funds and shortcomings in personnel management. Charges that the group rlargely ejectsas he explains on his website.
What was the government’s reaction?
Following these revelations, the government launched two administrative and financial investigations, entrusted to the Igas (General Inspectorate of Social Affairs) and the IGF (General Inspectorate of Finance) and made a report to the courts.
In their 500-page report, presented last April, the inspectors of the two services pointed out that the “steering” of the Orpea group’s establishments, which are often overcrowded, “gives priority to financial performance” rather than to quality criteria. In terms of food, the “grammages” of the meals served to seniors are “significantly and systematically insufficient”.
How many complaints have been filed?
At the same time, dozens of families of residents have filed a complaint with the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office for “endangering others”, “manslaughter”, but also “non-assistance to a person in danger” and “violence by negligence “. About thirty nursing homes are targeted, in particular the “Le Corbusier” establishments, in Boulogne-Billancourt, and “Les Bords de Seine”, in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
The latter is particularly “symptomatic”, explains to 20 minutes the lawyer Fabien Arakelian, who advises and accompanies relatives of residents accommodated in Ehpad. Three of these files concern Orpea establishments. “Families were paying exorbitant prices” while the “dysfunctions” noted constitute, according to him, the “peak of what has been badly done in these establishments”.
Where are the investigations?
At the end of April, a two-part investigation, one for institutional mistreatment and the other for financial offences, was opened by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office. These investigations had been joined to an investigation already underway for breaches of labor law. In June, a dozen gendarmes from the Versailles Research Section and Oclaesp searched the company’s headquarters in Puteaux (Hauts-de-Seine), as well as regional offices. The exploitation of this search is still in progress.
Five months later, justice therefore decided to launch a new wave of searches on Tuesday. “These searches are a good thing, it may help to shed light on certain possible actions that have not been identified so far,” lawyer Sarah Saldmann, who represents families of residents, told AFP. ” Better late than never. I note that justice is finally starting to open its eyes and is going into fifth gear, ”comments his colleague, Fabien Arakelian. The lawyer “hopes that, subsequently, within the framework of the judicial investigations which are in progress, there will be indictments, then hearings during which criminal responsibilities will be established”.