“These facts are unacceptable and it is our responsibility to verify that this is not happening in Wallonia,” said the competent health minister, Christie Morreale, on “Jeudi en Prime” (RTBF). Orpea manages nineteen nursing homes in the south of the country. “I will get the report in the coming days as I have requested other inspections,” the minister added.
Unannounced inspections have been possible in the Walloon Region for a year and a half, said the PS minister. These checks – last year there were 521 in Wallonia – can in the worst case lead to legal proceedings or even the closure of the establishment.
The French care group also operates several residential care centers in Flanders. Two of these, wzc James Ensor in Ostend and Park Lane in Antwerp, are on a blacklist that contains ‘residential care centers under increased supervision’.