PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:
Korian Group (Paris:KORI) received a request for an interview from its CEO, Sophie Boissard, by Elise Lucet, journalist at France Television, as part of an upcoming programme currently being produced by Cash Investigation teams, relating to the private nursing homes sector.
For your perfect information, please find below the e-mail that the communication department sent today to the editor-in-chief of Cash Investigation.
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Dear Editor-in-Chief,
As indicated during our different telephone calls, please find attached the response that our CEO, Sophie Boissard, has asked me to send you.
She has listened to the messages left by Elise Lucet on her mobile last Friday, requesting a reaction to the current investigation of Cash Investigation into our sector and into our Group.
We would like to remind you first of all, that our respective communication team have been discussing an interview for the last nine months without being able to find a reasonable agreement on the practical arrangements.
The fact your journalist entered one of our nursing homes by falsely claiming to be the relative of a deceased resident during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a complete disregard for any of the journalistic ethics that your colleagues apply and for any sanitary protecting measures, has not been conducive to creating a climate of trust.
However trust is key to be able to have a balanced and constructive exchange, which allows for a right to respond to all questions. Sophie Boissard has always been focused on maintaining dialogue and transparency, whether it be with our residents, their families, all our stakeholders but also the press, whose independance we respect completely and with whom we work and exchange with on a daily basis.
The doors of Korian are always open to requests of the press, in compliance with the sanitary procedures which imply the local teams need to be notified in advance. Sophie Boissard has also readily replied to requests for interviews, for example on Tuesday 1st February she replied live to the questions of Marc Fauvelle on the France Info radio – even though Korian is not the target of the accusations of the book « The gravediggers » written by Victor Castanet.
Sophie Boissard is above all concerned to defend the sector and the honour of employees of Korian who do not deserve the stigma induced by the accusations in the book. She is therefore ready to be interviewed on the condition that it will be balanced, without her words being misconstrued or edited and therefore deformed.
This therefore implies the following conditions – in line with the conditions of interviews held with your colleagues:
A live interview between Elise Lucet and Sophie Boissard, following the broadcast of the exposé to allow the viewers to hear all of her answers and be able to form their own opinion
The possibility of a prior viewing of the elements regarding Korian: not in order to request any modification, since that would infringe on your editorial independance, but in order to be able to provide any necessary clarifications.
These requests are completely in line with the decision of the Committee for the Independance, Honesty and Integrity of the information and programmes of France Télévision, published on 9th June 2021 following the programme « Pieces à Conviction » about Korian.
Finally, in the advertisement of the programme that you have been doing since yesterday you seem to suggest that there may be serious situations in our facilities that could endanger our residents. If this is the case, and if these elements concern any nursing homes of our Group, we assume that you would bring them immediately to our attention, so that we could take all necessary measures without delay in order to protect our residents and inform that relevant authorities.
We do not doubt that Elise Lucet’s aim as a public service journalist is to ensure a fair debate and clarify these topics that interest all French people.
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About Korian
Korian, the leading European care services group for elderly and fragile people. www.korian.com
Korian has been listed on Euronext Paris Section A since November 2006 and is included in the following indices: SBF 120, CAC Health Care, CAC Mid 60, CAC Mid & Small and MSCI Global Small Cap
Euronext ticker: KORI - ISIN: FR0010386334 – Reuters: KORI.PA – Bloomberg: KORI.FP
