On April 26, the Bléry nursing home in Marseille-en-Beauvaisis had to be urgently evacuated. A boiler breakdown forced the establishment to close its doors. In a few hours a solution had to be found for the 49 residents of the nursing home. Most were transferred to Grandvilliers. A solution presented as temporary. What the unions doubt today, nine months later, when nothing has changed. Since Monday, December 2 and until Wednesday, staff have gathered in front of the nursing home to demand its reopening.
“We know very well that the Regional Health Agency (ARS) is capable of letting the situation deteriorate. The reopening is very far away. It’s not a will», assures Christophe Caron, the local representative of the USD-CGT.
A merger initiated before the boiler problem
This fear can also be explained by a proposed merger between the Bléry nursing home and that of the Grandvilliers hospital center. A merger project which dates from 2023. In a letter from June, management told staff that this project has nothing to do with the boiler breakdown. That it must still be repaired but that the scale of the work coupled with administrative procedures requires this delay.
Management then maintains that the reintegration of caregivers and residents into the Bléry nursing home is still the objective despite the merger. However, she makes it clear that this independent nursing home format of less than 80 beds is no longer economically viable in the current context. Which, despite the confidence expressed by management, contributes to the distrust of the unions.
An event supported by families
This Monday morning a barnum was therefore set up in the courtyard, in front of the closed nursing home of Marseille-en-Beauvaisis. The staff came to show their concern about the survival of the establishment. They offer to sign a petition and distribute leaflets which summarize the situation. According to them, the cessation of activity authorization would be an option considered rather than repairing the boiler.
Present this Monday morning on the picket line, the mayor of the neighboring town Fontaine-Lavaganne denounces the situation. “I was one of the first to alertsays Gérard Goret. If we close the nursing home because it is no longer profitable and costs too much, I will be the first to say yes. But because the boiler is broken, no.» Several families of residents also came to provide their support and sign the petition.
An essential family establishment
All the families met testify to the difficulty for their parent to adapt to the change in environment upon arriving at the Grandvilliers structure, itself located in the hospital. “Here it was a family cocoon. In Grandvilliers it’s too bigexplains this lady, speaking of her mother. It hurts my heart, she no longer participates in anything. It’s too big, she gets lost.»
“The closure was very brutalsays this other lady, daughter of a resident. I was called on the 26th to take mother 4 or 5 days for a boiler problem. I kept her until May 7, but I had to leave on the 8th. So she arrived in Grandvilliers but they put her in a three-bed room… It was a disaster. I prefer that she comes back here, I live in Achy. Here I come by bike.» «We too, it’s easier coming from Let’s thinkadds a couple. Grandvilliers, we have to put ourselves in our place», they plead.
However, they do not criticize the efforts made by the new establishment. “They are not mistreated in Grandvilliers. But here it’s more friendly», Explain these families. An opinion shared by the staff. “For us, as caregivers, what was hard was seeing the sadness of the residents.», testifies an employee.
Contacted to clarify the situation, ARS Hauts-de-France hasn’t responded yet. The strike must be held until Wednesday in front of the Marseille-en-Beauvaisis nursing home.
