Inspections led to the temporary administration of three Ehpad from the Bridge group in the Haut-Rhin. The regional health agency (ARS) and the county council noted “malfunctions” there that put residents “in danger”.
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) “have found malfunctions which seriously deteriorate the quality of care for residents and thus put them in danger”, announced the ARS to AFP, confirming information from the newspaper L’Alsace.
The three establishments, which accommodate 214 residents in total, have so far been managed by the company Les Fontaines Ehpad, of which the Bridge group, chaired by Charles Mémoune, is the sole shareholder. Asked, the directors of the three establishments made no comment.
The management of the Bridge group, on the other hand, refers to “difficulties in recruiting and the presence of staff”. “We have a recruitment plan in place, but it’s not easy,” said management, 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 to sustainably preserve the quality of care and support” in the three nursing homes, said the ARS.
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 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté evoking “a large number of malfunctions” putting ” seriously jeopardize the health and safety of those received”.
Similarly, in March 2022, the Ehpad of the Bridge Les Opalines group in Moutiers-en-Cinglais (Calvados) was banned from welcoming new residents for six months. The administrative court had observed that the lack of staff did not allow “to ensure satisfactory care of the residents during the toilets, meals and bedtimes”.
In March 2022, the government announced a “vast control plan” of the 7,500 nursing homes in two years to prevent abuse, in the wake of the scandal created by the publication of the book-investigation Les Fossoyeurs, on the management of the group’s establishments Orpea.