Forget the scandal. The new CEO of Orpea, Philippe Charrier, affirms in an interview with the JDD that the group, which presents its results on Friday and organizes from mid-May an open house operation to try to reassure about its practices, has “sinned lack of rigor”.
“The time has come to build the new Orpea, in transparency,” he assured. “This is why we are launching the general assembly of Orpea, the idea being to open, between May 13 and June 11, the doors of our Ehpad to the families of residents, elected officials, the associative world, journalists. and to all citizens interested in the question of old age”, he specifies.
The first conclusions of the two external audits carried out by the group point to flaws in the care of patients. “Reporting of serious healthcare-related adverse events, in particular, was too slow; there may have been omissions”, recognizes Philippe Charrier, new CEO of Orpea appointed after the scandal.
The audits also show the existence of end-of-year discounts from suppliers of publicly funded products. “Orpea sinned by lack of rigor. Today, we know, so we correct”, assures Philippe Charrier.
New measures
To fight against understaffing, the group, which will present its annual results on Friday, will “now pay overtime, study the possibility of offering better mutual insurance” to its “collaborators, facilitate their career development and changes in status. “, he continues.
The private group recently filed a complaint against X for misuse of corporate assets. This “complaint against unnamed persons” relates to “past facts and operations – unrelated to the conditions of reception and care of residents – likely to raise questions with regard to the social interest of Orpea and discovered at the continuation of internal investigations”, had explained the group at the beginning of May.
The group has been under fire from critics since the publication at the end of January of the investigative book by independent journalist Victor Castanet “Les Fossoyeurs”.
A report commissioned by the government pointed to serious dysfunctions in early April. And the group has been the subject of a judicial inquiry since the end of April, opened in Nanterre, on suspicion of institutional mistreatment or financial offences.