MEDICA : Significant partial recognition by the Government of its NF Services quality benchmark certified by AFNOR

Major step in MEDICA's quality initiative Significant partial recognition by the Government of its NF Services quality benchmark certified by AFNOR Paris, 26 April 2013 - MEDICA's quality programme has, through its NF Services Quality Benchmark, received a very important Government recognition, following the publication of the Order of 17 April 2013 in the Official Gazette yesterday.

This Order endorses the numerous equivalences between the Certification Standard awarded to MEDICA by the AFNOR at the start of 2011 and the ANESM* external assessment requirements which will become compulsory from 1 January 2015.
The government departments have underlined the complete balance between: the continual action to improve the quality of the services, the risk factors, the capacity to assess residents, their needs and expectations as part of the Nursing Home's or Department's plan, by taking the interactions with the elderly person's family and social environment into account...

"We are particularly pleased about this recognition by the Government which rewards our teams' professionalism and daily commitment to the elderly. The culture of quality is deeply rooted in the MEDICA Group. Our quality initiative which began over ten years ago has reached a level of maturity today which permits us to satisfy the ANESM's external assessment requirements more than ever", says Dr Didier Armaingaud, the MEDICA Group's Medical and Quality Director.

MEDICA was the first group in the dependency sector to obtain the NF Service certification in
2011. This certificate, which is a pledge of reliability and professionalism for the residents and their families, reflects the caring practices and the transparent information given to customers so they can make informed choices.
The NF standard, which was developed from elderly people's needs and expectations, focuses on two important themes in the lives of elderly people in nursing homes: preserving their independence and their social lives. Thus, each MEDICA nursing home is committed to a quality monitoring process based on self-assessment and the AFNOR's annual external controls. Currently, 95% of MEDICA's long-term care facilities in France (in the Group's consolidation scope for more than 2 years) are NF Service certified.

* ANESM: National agency for evaluating the quality of social and medico-social services institutions

ABOUT THE MEDICA GROUP

The MEDICA Group was founded in 1968. It is the leader in long stay and temporary dependency care in France, in the "EHPAD" sector (Nursing Homes for dependent elderly people) in France and Italy, and in the Health sector, with After-care and Rehabilitation Clinics and Psychiatric Clinics. On 31 March 2013, the MEDICA Group had a total capacity of almost 16,800 beds in these two sectors, with almost 10,700 employees.

MEDICA has been listed on NYSE Euronext Paris since February 2010 - Compartment B - Eligible for SRD 'long- only'. MEDICA is listed on the SBF 120, Euronext CAC Healthcare, MSCI France Small Cap and Gaia Index indexes.

Code: MDCA - ISIN: FR0010372581 - Reuters: MDCA PA - Bloomberg: MDCA FP

Website: www.groupemedica.com

Press contacts:

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