The three Haut-Rhin nursing homes of the Bridge group have been placed under provisional administration following several family complaints. A second administrator supposed to remedy the dysfunctions took office Monday September 18 after the resignation of the first. Management contests this placement under supervision and proposes to lead a monitoring committee.
The Les Fontaines nursing homes in the municipalities of Kembs, Lutterbach and Horbourg-Wihr, in Haut-Rhin, purchased in 2021 by the groupe Bridge, are experiencing a new twist. Two weeks after the structure was placed under provisional administration, at the end of August, by the Grand Est regional health agency (ARS), the administrator announced his resignation.
An unexpected resignation when he was supposed to remedy serious failures within the establishments and when he seemed to satisfy the families of residents.
The decision to place the three nursing homes under supervision followed several complaints from families, among others for endangering the lives of others. In particular on June 12, 2023, for the first of them. Alerted, the ARS carried out inspections at the beginning of August with the European Community of Alsace, during which malfunctions seriously calling into question the quality of care for residents were noted.
The days following the resignation of the provisional administrator, on Wednesday September 13, once again plunged the families into disarray. “This weekend was a disaster. Residents were not washed, not dressed, not cared for. At noon, some were still in bed“, deplores Christiane Dartois, a family representative and vice-president of the social life council (CVS) of Lutterbach.
The resignation last week of the provisional administrator appointed in August for a period of six months, renewable once, remains incomprehensible. “We have no information on this subject, we regret it because it was a recovery in control for 15 days which reassured the families. There was staff, care, everything you need.”
A new provisional administrator, Philippe Zaïdan, took office on Monday September 18. The families have not yet had time to meet him. Some of them gathered in front of the Lutterbach establishment the next morning to voice their grievances. Our team collected the testimony of Christiane Dartois, whose mother has been a resident in Lutterbach since the summer of 2020.Before the acquisition by the Bridge group, the structure had been managed by Ms. Maetz for 20 years. She was a great director, it worked wonderfully, we had the feeling of becoming part of a little family. I placed my mother in Lutterbach with complete confidence.”
Families of residents gathered in the parking lot of the Lutterbach nursing home, including Christiane Dartois, on the left. • © Vincent Roy, France Télévisions
Everything changed after the structure was purchased by the Bridge group in December 2021, she says. “OHe fell into hell. They took control of the three establishments by reducing staff, without having any knowledge of what an Alzheimer’s nursing home is, which requires more staff, as is the case for Lutterbach. However, they have reduced staff numbers and salaries. They told them, ‘the door is there, you can leave’. As a result, 23 nursing assistants left, we changed directors five times, we had two nurses left.”.
The administrator in place a fortnight before resigning, would have put the three establishments back on their feet. “He brought back staff, a doctor“. What worries the families now is the court decision which could return full management to Bridge. The group’s management has in fact requested a suspension of the provisional administration and proposes to replace it with a monitoring committee The request must be examined on Wednesday September 20 by the Paris administrative court.
Contacted, management confirmed in a press release sent today: “The Fontaines establishment was forced to contest this decision [le placement sous administration provisoire] before the administrative court by filing an interim order while continuing in-depth work on its three sites“, we can read in particular.
Efforts were made this summer which enabled the firm recruitment of staff on permanent contracts on the three sites, in particular: three nursing assistants, two social care assistants, a management assistant, two nurses and a male nurse. Hiring promises would concern a prescribing coordinating doctor, a psychologist, a hospital service agent and additional nurses. A coordinating doctor would have been recruited on a fixed-term contract.
In short, for management, the establishment of a provisional administration is not justified “as the governance of the establishments is stable”. A position contested by Christiane Dartois who points to the recruitment of temporary workers who have no knowledge of residents. “They need stability. If Bridge takes over, we must have the assurance that our residents will be treated humanely“, she says.
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