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One of the jewels of Nice’s medical community, the Claude Pompidou Institute, is it on the brink of a crisis? Inaugurated on the 10th of March by Claude Chirac, president of the Foundation named after the widow of the former President of the Republic, this establishment is entirely dedicated to Alzheimer’s disease and dependent elderly people. It includes a research and consultation unit, a day center, and a residential center for 24 residents.
What was meant to be a benchmark model for the quality and modernity of care methods is being accused by ten families who, after an unresolved dispute with the management, have decided to appeal to the Public Prosecutor by reporting serious dysfunctions. The circumstances and conditions surrounding the deaths of two patients are being highlighted. The management outright denies all these accusations.
This is a delicate case that, beyond an easily sensationalized scandal, deserves a thorough and very serious examination.
It is Patrick Mottard, general councilor of the 5th district, who provides us with his well-informed opinion, having alerted about the reported issues for several weeks and worked towards a consensual solution:
“As a general councilor, I was perfectly legitimate to intervene because it was the functioning of the EHPAD at the Institute that was in question, and the Accommodation Establishments for Dependent Elderly People fall under the department’s responsibility. Furthermore, the establishment is located on Molière street, at the heart of the 5th district.
We sought to ease tensions discreetly by multiplying initiatives so that dialogue could begin outside of any media pressure. My intervention at the general council during the plenary session in December, where I asked President Ciotti, as he has the authority, to appoint a mediator between the establishment’s management and the families, was part of this intent.
Alas! there was no dialogue, and today a crisis situation is established with ten criminal complaints filed.
Therefore, it’s deliberately that the EHPAD managers put themselves in this situation which risks tarnishing the reputation of the entire Claude Pompidou Institute, a concept sometimes criticized but extremely innovative. It also risks slowing the consensus-driven dynamic around the Alzheimer’s plan.
We must swiftly return to reason, which means returning to dialogue. Moreover, we are counting on the French Mutuality, manager of the EHPAD, known for its experience and professionalism, to set everything in order and impose, after dialogue, a certain number of reforms at the management level.
As a result, the families of patients will be reassured and the residents of the 5th district will once again be able to be proud of their Claude Pompidou Institute.”
To be continued…
