The Gravediggers – An Investigation Exposes Resounding Scandals and Violations of Nursing Homes in France

 

The board of directors of Orpea, a group that was accused this week of mismanaging elderly care facilities (Ehpad) in France, announced on January 30 the dismissal of its general manager, Yves Le Masne, and the appointment of a new chief executive.

This change at the head of Orpea comes a few days after French journalist Victor Castanet released a book exposing greed and gross abuses in the management of nursing homes in France of the Orpea Group, the world leader in this sector.

Orpea is accused of favoring profitability, through the rationing of food and hygiene products, over the well-being of the elderly who are cared for within the walls of its institutions.

Orpea, which specializes in private clinics and homes for the elderly, has expanded rapidly in recent years, and it is present in 23 countries with a total of 1156 sites, it has a capacity of 116,514 beds, and it generated €3.9 billion in revenue and €467 million in operating profit in 2020.

However, Orpea now faces a potential scandal and public discontent from the French government, unions and political leaders, and from the parents of the elderly who reside in its nursing homes.

 

The Gravediggers

A detailed investigation conducted by the French journalist Victor Castanet and published by Fayard on January 26, revealed horrific abuses suffered by residents of nursing homes in France, which is managed and supervised by the Orpea Group.

The information that came within Castanet’s book, which came under the title Les Fossoyeurs, meaning (The Gravediggers), was published in excerpts from dozens of French newspapers and websites on January 24, among them Le Figaro and Le Monde, which described the investigation as a resonant scandal.

In his investigation—in which he attacked the testimonies of some employees and elderly families residing in Orpea care homes in France, and on which he continuously worked for nearly 3 years and printed in a 388-page book—the French journalist revealed horrific violations against the elderly and details of their difficult daily lives.

These violations include: “Not providing enough meals and a sufficient number of diapers on a daily basis, hygiene problems, poor management of the laundry, in addition to discrimination among the inmates based on their social class.

“The situation is getting worse for those who suffer from mental disorders or those who are less affluent, and according to the testimonies I have obtained, they are abandoned; in contrast, elderly from rich and well-known families and former politicians are treated better,” Castanet said.

“As soon as I got to the nursing home, after opening the elevator door, I realized that something was wrong. Indeed, there was a foul smell of urine in the entrance,” the journalist said.

The author of the investigation conveyed the statement of a former nurse who worked in several Orpea nursing homes as saying: “We have patients who stay in bed all day, patients who don't eat lunch because we don't have enough staff.”

The investigation also revealed a heavy-caliber scandal for the French Ministry of Health in previous governments, Castanet quotes Orpea's former medical director as saying: “Xavier Bertrand, Minister of Health from 2005 to 2007 and from 2010 to 2012 was in our pocket.”

The French journalist confirms that this bad treatment of the elderly comes despite the fact that the amounts of accommodation in the elderly care homes of the group are very high, the cost of a room, which ranges from about 20 square meters, is more than €6,500 per month.

In turn, the French journalist revealed in a statement to the French channel BFM TV on January 24 that he had received threats and a financial offer of about €15 million to stop his investigation.

“What shocked me the most was hearing a former CEO explain to me that they treat people not as people, but as consumer products,” Castanet said.

The author emphasized that several elderly families and former employees had taken legal action against the director of Ehpad and nursing homes in France.

In a press release published on January 24, Orpea officially challenged these accusations as false, outrageous and harmful; it also denied providing any money in exchange for not publishing the investigation.

Jean-Christophe Romersi, general manager of France’s Orpea, stated on BFM TV on January 25: “We are human and we are not infallible. Malfunctions can occur. We have nothing to hide. We don't ration because it doesn't align with our guidelines and values. We will never sacrifice the quality of support and the quality of care at the expense of profitability.”

According to Castanet, “Orpea receives between one and two million euros in public donations for the elderly at its institutions in France, although the group generates billions of euros in profits annually.”

Orpea Group, which was created 30 years ago, is one of the most famous private nursing homes in the world and operates a network of 354 institutions in France only.

 

Political Discontent

In the first official reaction to the scandals directed against it, Orpea group announced, in a press statement, on January 30, the termination of the duties of its general manager at the international level, Yves Le Masne, and the appointment of Philippe Charrier, who has been the managing director of the Maioli Spindler Pharmaceutical Laboratories since 2019, according to AFP.

“The new director will be responsible for ensuring and implementing best practices across the group and to shed full light on the allegations made, this is based on two independent companies that will assess the situation in these nursing homes,” the statement added.

Orpea launched these assessment missions on January 26, stating that it takes seriously the facts contained in journalist Victor Castanet's recently published investigation.

In this context, French Minister of Health Olivier Veran indicated on January 25 that the accusations contained in the book The Gravediggers would take a legal turn in the coming days.

Brigitte Bourguignon, France's Minister of State for Elder Autonomy, announced on January 25 that she had requested a meeting with the group's general manager in France, Jean-Christophe Romersi, on February 1 to respond to the serious accusations against the group.

According to the minister, “the interview will be an opportunity to hear the interpretations of Orpea group on several points that will be the subject of in-depth investigations by state agencies, including: details about health care or issues related to the nutrition of the elderly, the management practices of the group with respect to employees, the percentage of supervision, as well as the financial practices of the group.”

Commenting on this investigation, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on January 26: “What was revealed in this investigation is absolutely disgusting.

“The government is considering launching an independent investigation to inspect the entire Orpea group, there is no doubt that such acts cannot be tolerated in our country,” he stressed.

In turn, the Syrian lawyer residing in France, Zaid al-Azem, told Al-Estiklal that “The Gravediggers book is not the first investigation to reveal scandals within Orpea group, there were two investigations published during the past years, the first on the French network M6, and the other on the channel France 2 on September 8, 2018, which exposed several scandals within Orpea.”

“Previous investigations against Orpea revealed deliberate negligence by those in charge of the work, such as meal rationing, staff shortages, and lack of care. There was even a video recording taken with a hidden camera by the son of an elderly person, it showed an elderly woman who fell from her wheelchair while she was asking for help without anyone helping her,” he stated.

“In addition, Orpea group was setting a budget of less than €5 only to prepare menus for each elderly person for a whole day (breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner),” Al-Azem added.

The lawyer expected that “the French judiciary would be decisive with these new accusations, unlike what happened during 2018, especially with the filing of many lawsuits against Orpea group and the movement of French politicians.”

Al-Azem also pointed out that “The health sector in France, after the Omicron crisis, has become largely stifling, and there is a capacity deficit, for which previous governments are responsible.”

It is noteworthy that Orpea was already in the cross-hairs of another investigation that revealed that the for-profit company was using irregular work contracts in its care homes in France, in this way, she earned at least €350 million from the French health insurance system.

According to information revealed by Investigate Europe and Mediapart, employees are required to sign fixed-term contracts indicating that they are replacing employees with permanent contracts without justification, which is a violation of French labor law.

 

Big Repercussions

The recently published book has had major implications for Orpea, both politically and economically.

Since the investigation was published on January 24, Orpea has lost about half of its value on the Paris Stock Exchange.

Although Orpea is a private sector company, the allegations put French ministers on the defensive as they risk shedding light once again on France's elderly care policies, after nursing homes experienced horrific suffering in the early stages of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The COVID-19 infection devastated older generations before vaccinations curbed death rates and helped restore freedom to nursing home residents, who had long been isolated in prison-like conditions.

It is noteworthy that the Coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly 130,000 people in France, including the deaths of 27,400 people in nursing homes.

The Federal Confederation of Private Health of the General Confederation of Labor (CGIL) for many years denounced the working conditions and care of the elderly in such private institutions, without changing anything.

According to a statistics published by the National Solidarity Fund for Autonomy (CNSA) in 2020, 7,502 French nursing homes received 601,300 residents, 51% of whom were absorbed into public institutions, 29% of whom were absorbed into private non-profit institutions, and 20% of whom were absorbed into private for-profit institutions.