During several inspection missions carried out between May 2022 and August 2023 in the accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad) Les Fontaines in the municipalities of Lutterbach, Kembs and Horbourg-Wihr, the ARS and the European community of Alsace (CEA) “found dysfunctions that seriously deteriorate the quality of care residents and thus put them in danger”announced the ARS to AFP, confirming information from the newspaper l’Alsace.
The three establishments, which welcome 214 residents in total, were until now managed by the company Les Fontaines Ehpad, of which the Bridge group, chaired by Charles Mémoune, is the sole shareholder.
Lack of staff
Asked, the directors of the three establishments made no comment. The management of the Bridge group, on the other hand, evokes “difficulties in recruitment and presence of staff”.
“We have set up a recruitment planbut it’s not easy”indicates the direction, while ensuring that “Things are moving in the right direction”.
Diego Calabro, director general of the Mulhouse Diaconate House Foundation, has been appointed provisional administrator for six months, renewable once.
Its mission is to “establish the human and material conditions allowing the quality of care and support to be preserved in a sustainable manner” in the three nursing homes, said the ARS.
Precedents
In May 2022, the Flore de Saint-Agnan (Yonne) nursing home, also belonging to the Bridge group, had already been placed under provisional administration, the ARS of Burgundy-Franche-Comte evoking “a large number of malfunctions” putting “seriously endangering the health and safety of the people received”.
Similarly, in March 2022, the Ehpad of the Bridge Les Opalines group in Moutiers-en-Cinglais (Calvados) had been banned from taking in new residents for six months.
The administrative court had observed that the lack of personnel did not allow “to ensure satisfactory care for residents during toilets, meals and bedtimes”.
In March 2022, the government announced a “extensive plan of control” of the 7,500 nursing homes in two years to prevent mistreatment, in the wake of the scandal created by the publication of the book-investigation “Les Fossoyeurs”, on the management of the establishments of the Orpéa group.