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ORPEA Confirms Its Commitment to Return the Public Funds Unduly Received
Rhea-AI Impact
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Rhea-AI Summary
In response to a letter from the French National Solidarity Fund for Autonomy dated July 29, 2022, ORPEA has confirmed its commitment to reimburse €25.7 million related to unappropriated public grants. The company emphasizes the importance of using life auxiliaries as caregivers and plans to address staffing challenges through a significant recruitment initiative of 550 monthly hires until the end of 2022, increasing to 800 in 2023. ORPEA is committed to responsible cooperation with authorities while ensuring the quality of care amidst workforce shortages.
Positive
Commitment to reimburse €25.7 million in public grants enhances credibility.
Implementation of a robust recruitment program aims to address staffing shortages.
Negative
Financial burden of reimbursing €25.7 million may affect cash flow.
Ongoing staffing challenges could impact service quality if not resolved.
In its reply to the letter dated 29 July 20221 from the Caisse nationale de solidarité pour l'autonomie (French National Solidarity Fund for Autonomy - CNSA), made on 29 August 2022, ORPEA (Paris:ORP) has confirmed its commitment to reimburse to the nearest euro any public grants that have not been appropriately requested, paid or used.
ORPEA will thus proceed with the reimbursement of a total amount of €25.7m as identified by the CNSA, equivalent to the end-of-year discounts received from its suppliers for purchases financed by the "care" section, to the territorial economic contribution, the social solidarity contribution of companies and of the costs of taking out civil liability insurance policies charged to the "care" section.
On the other hand, with regard to staff costs related to life auxiliaries acting as care givers, ORPEA points out that this is a general practice in private and public nursing homes in France. This practice is essential to ensure the quality of care in a general context of shortage of care givers. Moreover, the supervisory authorities, with very few exceptions, have not made any comments on the treatment of "acting care givers" in the statements of income and expenditure, nor have they rejected them.
For the future and in view of these recurring difficulties, ORPEA undertakes the following initiatives:
- The launch of an ambitious recruitment programme of 550 persons per month planned until the end of 2022, half of which care givers, then 800 per month from 2023 onwards;
- The deployment of an accelerated training programme via the VAE (Validation of Acquired Experience) system with a target of 300 registered and trained employees;
- The development of apprenticeships with the launch in May 2022 of a recruitment campaign for nursing assistant apprentices with a target of 500 alternating work-study students in 2022-2023.
ORPEA intends to address all of these issues in a constructive and responsible manner, in particular to clarify the rules governing funding, where there may still be difficulties of interpretation.
Laurent Guillot, ORPEA's Chief Executive Officer, said: "ORPEA will reimburse to the nearest euro any public funds that have not been regularly requested, paid or used. This is an essential step in the rebuilding of ORPEA which we will accelerate and deepen in a spirit of constructive and responsible cooperation with the authorities".
About ORPEA
ORPEA is a leading global player, expert in the care of all types of frailty. The Group operates in 22 countries and covers three core businesses: care for the elderly (nursing homes, assisted living, home care), post-acute and rehabilitation care and mental health care (specialized clinics). It has more than 71,000 employees and welcomes more than 255,000 patients and residents each year.
