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“The social and solidarity economy has proven to be essential”

Jean-Marc Borello, founder and chairman of the board of the SOS Group SOS Photo Group

The SOS Group, which presents itself as “the first European social enterprise”, intervenes in particular in the fields of health, seniors and solidarity. His daily life was therefore disrupted by the appearance of the Covid-19. How does he lead the fight? What can we learn from this unprecedented crisis? Answers with its founder and president of the executive board, Jean-Marc Borello.

18,000 employees, 550 establishments and services, 950 million euros in turnover, 1.7 million beneficiaries, a presence in 44 countries… The SOS Group, created in 1984, is all of the above and above all an ambition: “Allow everyone, whatever their background and income, to have access to quality services related to their basic needs”. Over the years, what defines itself as “the first European social enterprise” has invested in the sectors of youth, employment, solidarity, health, seniors, culture, ecological transition and international action for “Develop innovative solutions” in connection with the societal challenges of our time and demonstrate that it is possible to “Perpetuate economic activities while having a strong social impact”.

In the Great East, the SOS Group, which the Hospitalor and Alpha Santé associations had joined in 2011 and 2012, notably manages 45 accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad), ie more than 2,900 beds, four hospitals in Château- Salins, Saint-Avold, Thionville and Mont-Saint-Martin, two home nursing services… In other words, it is on the front line in the fight against Covid-19 and has a vision of the world of tomorrow to share. This is what Jean-Marc Borello, its founder and chairman of the executive board, explains to us.

The SOS Group was created, I quote, “to fight against exclusions in all their forms”. Does its mission make sense in these troubled times?

“We’re going back to the very essence of our mission, yes, assuming we’re one day away… You know, SOS was born during the AIDS pandemic; we know about the great epidemics … But each difficulty is felt more harshly by those who are in a fragile situation. There, the Covid-19 has an impact on nursing homes, hospitals, the homeless, migrants, children’s homes with a social character, emergency accommodation centers, etc. In almost all of the sectors in which the Group focuses its action. “

How, then, to organize in the face of such a brutal, violent crisis?

“Our attention was naturally drawn to health, with priority priorities, as an absolute emergency, the need to treat all those who wanted to be treated. This involved, in the Île-de-France, Burgundy and Grand Est regions in particular, the hardest hit and where the SOS Group manages many hospitals and retirement homes, to devote most of our forces to Covid. “

Concretely, what does this mean?

“Everyone had to agree to work a lot more, we suspended all scheduled surgeries that were not of an emergency nature, cleared 300 Covid places, moved the respirators for example to the resuscitation services that we reserved for Covid-19, even if it is necessary to continue to take care of road accident victims for example… We also called upon all solidarity fairly quickly since some of our employees were contaminated at the very beginning of the epidemic and that ‘We had to continue to manage the flow of patients: a German came to lend a hand in Saint-Avold, a senator and doctor (Véronique Guillotin, editor’s note) returned to duty at the hospital in Mont-Saint-Martin. Not to mention the internal solidarity at SOS: some Aquitaine employees have joined the East where the crisis is the hardest, we even have a dentist who works as a nursing assistant … “

Is this mobilization of your teams a source of pride for the boss that you are?

“You have to stay very, very humble in such a situation. Our employees are used to working hard for people in difficulty, they are once again closer to their mission, in a role that they really take to heart. But their reaction, yes, is extremely positive. “

What about their state of mind? Are they on the brink of rupture?

“I feel that they are not far from being exhausted. They still hold on to energy, but until when? In any case, this poses a real HR subject (human resources, editor’s note). In a number of cases, non-Covid patients have censored themselves by giving up going to the emergency room, consulting general practitioners. People with pathologies such as diabetes for example are getting worse. But all these patients will have to be taken back into account, also relaunching surgeries that are less urgent, conventional surgery, oncology in particular, and this, including if we stay on the Covid level. “

But is it possible today, with all the teams mobilized around the virus?

“This is the whole HR question I was talking about. We need to find a way to put some of all the resuscitators or nurses who have been fighting for weeks now to rest as soon as possible. We cannot ask them for an even more sustained activity when they are already 50 or 55 hours a week … The situation is very very tense, it is obvious … “

It reflects the lack of resources, financial and human, from which the world of health in France suffers and which a part of the country seems to discover today. Does it make you angry that we have to get through this crisis to relaunch this debate?

“You know, I’ve been angry for 62 years. What is clear is that for ten years, hospital funding has only decreased. It was only last year that it increased … However, we must give this universe the breath, the oxygen that is currently being reserved for our patients. Otherwise, it is necessary to find innovative solutions to get out of it as we did at SOS Group in our Ehpad. Because in the private non-profit, as we are, we cannot accumulate deficits, we have an obligation to balance our accounts … “

What is this innovative solution in the Ehpad that you evoke in half a word?

“In recent years, we are the only ones, even if we are starting to be imitated, to offer a price depending on the income of the residents, a solidarity rent so that there are no Ehpad for the wealthy, luxury – the private profit if we schematize – mid-range Ehpad – the private non-profit – Ehpad for the poor, hospices – the public – and so that everyone benefits from the same quality services. Overall, this allows a form of economic balance which helps to avoid social segregation, to fight against the impoverishment of certain Ehpad which inevitably leads to a deterioration of the premises, the proposed activities etc. And when it comes to calculating the ration of grated carrots at the meal, a crisis like the one we are going through is impossible to withstand. “

“The best way to not be afraid of the future is to build it”: these words are yours. For you, what is the quickest project to build to build the world of tomorrow?

“Assuming that in every difficulty there is an opportunity, we have launched, alongside the Red Cross in particular, a major online consultation to invent the world of tomorrow which has already brought together more than 300,000 participants. The idea is to allow all citizens to express their aspirations for a more human, more sustainable society. And in this perspective, the social economy has, in my opinion, a real role to play. “

Do you enlighten us?

“I have always considered that the economy should be a means, that it should be in the service of the general interest. Unfortunately, economic logic has become an objective. If the goal is to distribute dividends to shareholders, if a director of Ehpad is judged on the savings she makes on the functioning of its structure, then it is not men and women who are placed at the heart of the reflection but indeed the idea that it is necessary at all costs to maximize profits. However, certain things cannot be subjected to the law of the market. This is what we want to defend at SOS Group, a more virtuous economic model and the end of competition without faith or law. To improve access to healthcare in particular, offer worthy nursing homes everywhere, as many avenues to explore. “

Do you who support the most vulnerable feel a little lonely in your fight?

“No, we are getting more and more support, even at the top of the state. The Prime Minister had also come to your region, it seems to me, to launch our operation 1,000 cafes which aims to reopen bistros in villages that need this to live better. The SOS Group, with zero shareholders, zero dividends to distribute, can carry the seeds of a future model. The social and solidarity economy has proven that it is essential and we can see it in the support we receive from big companies or, at home, from the Regional Health Agency for example. But I’m not talking about hundreds of pounds of chocolates, thousands of flowers or digital tablets received to allow seniors to stay in touch with their families. This support also exists outside the Covid-19 crisis because we are truly included in the territory, in permanent exchange with its actors. Which leads to enormous local solidarity. “

To conclude, that you will have learned this coronavirus crisis, this confinement on the SOS Group that you founded?

“Lots of things … This difficult moment highlighted the extraordinary synergy between the teams, with hospital nursing assistants who, in the evening, after their day, would lend a hand in nursing homes for example. I also realized that one hour of videoconferencing each morning could be enough to launch projects, whereas ordinarily three hours of meeting may not work. There are three of us at headquarters instead of 150, yet telecommuting almost allows us to be more efficient, more responsive than usual. These are things that will need to be kept in mind when all of this is over to perhaps rethink our organization. Like certain responses, brought to new needs that have arisen with containment, will have to persist over time. “

An example ?

“With confinement, family tensions broke out or increased in certain homes. SOS has set up a platform on which a magistrate who takes a removal order can seize us so that we can find an accommodation solution as quickly as possible. In a few days, 35 people have already been relocated to prevent the violence from continuing. It’s a real satisfaction that will have to be maintained after the crisis. “

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