Romain Rouillard / Photo credit: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP 9:16 p.m., March 20, 2024

Guest of Europe 1 this Wednesday evening, Laurent Guillot, general manager of Emeis (formerly Orpea) discussed the strategies implemented within the group of retirement homes and private clinics, splashed by various scandals.

To get out of the rut, it is focusing in particular on improving the working conditions of employees.

The book had the effect of a missile.

In January 2022, journalist Victor Castanet published

Les Fossoyeurs

, an investigation denouncing the mistreatment suffered by residents in Orpea retirement homes.

The work also mentioned abusive use of public funds and shortcomings in the management of its personnel. 

A little over two years later, Orpea changed its name to Emeis.

“The mark of a transformation that we have carried out for two years”, indicates Laurent Guillot at the microphone of Hélène Zelany in Europe 1 evening.

While the group itself, as well as several former managers, were brought to justice, the general director of Emeis explained the strategy carried out within the company in order to turn the page on the scandals. 

Scandal after the release of the book “Les Fossoyeurs”:


“They obviously took it as a questioning of the quality of their work”



Laurent Guillot, general manager of the Emeis group (Ex-Orpéa) #Europe1Soirpic.twitter.com/FM3Yuz3jRH

— Europe 1 (@Europe1) March 20, 2024

Improve employee well-being

Concretely, Laurent Guillot wanted to emphasize the working conditions of employees.

At the end of January 2022, following the publication of the investigative book, employees of an Orpea nursing home, near Marseille, went on strike to denounce “institutional mistreatment” caused by a glaring lack of resources.

“I don’t believe we can take care of someone if someone doesn’t take care of us,” Laurent Guillot says today.

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While conceding that the company "had shortcomings in this area", the manager mentions, pell-mell, "salary increases, a very significant improvement in health and safety conditions at work".

Recalling in passing that “care professions are the most accident-prone, twice as many as construction”.

Laurent Guillot also highlights “training projects” for employees.

This name change is also part of this strategy and should “give our teams back pride in their work”.

The group has also taken measures to promote the well-being of residents, in particular by increasing the “supervision rate”.

“For 1 resident, we have between 0.75 and 0.80 staff. This is more than the sector average,” he says.

Nevertheless, the leader keeps an eye on Emeis' finances.

“Without financial balance, we cannot reinvest, we cannot hire staff and we cannot carry out the innovative actions that are necessary.”

As part of the procedure which should help the group regain financial balance, Emeis was placed, last December, under the control of the Caisse des Dépôts.