Asked about Europe 1 this Tuesday morning, Xavier Bertrand refuted “all in block” having maintained “a privileged relationship” with the leaders of the Orpéa group, accused of bad practices in the management of its nursing homes.
Minister of Health from 2005 to 2009, named in question in Victor Castanet’s investigative book, “Les Fossoyeurs”, at the origin of the scandal of the Orpéa group’s bad practices in the management of its nursing homes, Xavier Bertrand has again refuted “all in block” the existence of “privileged links” with the leaders of the company, this Tuesday on Europe 1. “You could say that I also had privileged links with the companies that installed MRIs, scanners, because I issued a lot of authorizations by implementing Jacques Chirac’s cancer plan”, he said. he explained, adding that he acted then within the framework of “his missions”. According to him, “rules had been set” and it was “the controls that were faulty”.
Faulty controls
“You have to look things in the face. We don’t take good enough care of disabled people, of the elderly. And after this scandal, there must be all the necessary sanctions. But we also have to make sure that we take good care of our elders,” he added. Unfortunate candidate for the LR nomination for the presidential election, Xavier Bertrand had already made the same argument on January 27, questioned on the subject in plenary session of the regional assembly of Hauts de France of which he is the president. “Yes, I had requests for authorization for retirement homes of the Orpéa group examined, as for all the other groups which had submitted files”, he declared then. “For three and a half years I did it in compliance with the regulations (…) it would have to be done again, I will do it again”.
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