First financial audit finds care under strain at one in ten private care homes
Flanders' very first financial audit of the sector raises questions about how some operators spend public money.
Around one in ten residential care centres has financial problems so serious that care is at risk. That is the finding of the Flemish government's first financial inspection of the sector, VRT NWS and De Standaard report. De Standaard adds that subsidies strikingly often do not end up in care.
Het Nieuwsblad put figures on the private operators: together they booked 15.5 million euros in net profit last year, considerably less than the year before, while holding 3.1 billion euros in reserves. Almost 5 million euros flowed back to the owners as dividends. Health economist Dominique Vandijck (UGent) believes a limited profit should remain possible.
Flemish Welfare Minister Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) responds that money invested in care must also go to care.