The surprising practices of a Swiss company linked to the French EMS
The company Kauforg took care of the purchase of food for the EMS of the Orpea group. His important financial transactions challenged Francetélévision, which carried out the investigation.
The purchase of food for the 400 EMS of the French group Orpea was managed by Kaufor until 2020 (photographic illustration).
AFP
The Radio France Research Unit publish a survey on Thursday in the Swiss company Kaufor, a subsidiary of the Orpea group, which manages medico-social establishments (SME) in France. Various practices by the Étoy-based company challenged the French public service: impressive salaries and bonuses on the management side, questionable service billing on the supplier side with significant commissions.
Amazing Salaries and Unlimited Bonuses
It’s all a matter of proportion. In nursing homes, the food budget for a resident is 4.20 euros per day for four meals (morning, midday, snack, evening). On the other hand, the important financial transactions inside Kaufor are surprising, reveals the French media thanks to unpublished internal documents.
To begin with, the salaries of Kaufor managers are revealed: 150,000 francs gross per year, plus a bonus of 150,000 francs, which can be unlimited in case of exceptional results, all for part-time work (30%). And it has already happened that one of these salaries reached 400,000 euros gross.
Was Orpea aware of these amounts? The company does not answer this question, but the Swiss directors’ contracts were signed by the group’s former director of finance and accounting.
Questionable benefits and high commission
Other documents are brought to light. This time they are about services offered by Kaufor to suppliers. Product satisfaction surveys with healthcare facilities, for example, are billed at a certain price: 300,000 euros. This was the case of the French company Pomona, one of the main food wholesalers. And the Swiss company will also ask you for an “unconditional, fixed, final and annual discount of 250,000 euros over three years”.
Other costs are added, and medical device distributors are also concerned about these dubious offers, such as Bastide Le Confort Médical (BLCM), with a €500,000 contract for the sale of various data.
According to a retail expert interviewed by Radio France, these types of services are often offered in the field. “It’s just that here it’s not about large distribution, but about nursing homes. And the residents are not customers”, we are told in the journalistic investigation. Doubts can even be expressed about a supplier price increase for EMS in order to offset all these costs.
administration report
In March 2022, a French report by the Inspectorate General of Social Affairs (IGAS) and Finance (IGF) pointed to malfunctions, after a six-week investigation. The latter does not concern Switzerland, but directly to Orpea.
The “priority given to financial performance over quality criteria” is particularly denounced, as is “food considered ‘insufficient’”, details Radio França. And some services such as those offered by Kaufor are questioned by the French administration, which wonders about their reality.
For its part, Orpa reacted: It is our duty to clarify the accusations made against the group”, explains Philippe Charrier, CEO of the Orpea group in the franceinfo article. Investigations and audits are ongoing on this matter. “This led us to file a first complaint against X with the Public Ministry in April and to take the first disciplinary measures,” he specifies.
Sonia Imseng is a journalist for the Tamedia newsroom. It covers current events in Switzerland and around the world. After graduating in political science, she obtained her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Neuchâtel. She also worked for RTS, Le Temps, Le Courrier.
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