ORPEA, a French nursing home operator that ranks second in health care for the elderly internationally, opened its first nursing home in China in the eastern city of Nanjing, Jan. 31, 2016. However, wardens around Nanjing are not optimistic about the new international nursing home chain’s high-end business model.

After a visit, journalists of yangtse.com were stunned by the pricing at ORPEA: the monthly rent of a lake view room is around 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, and including advanced nursing and health care, the whole package comes to almost 50,000 yuan per month, 10 times higher than regular nursing homes in Nanjing.

“ORPEA has 698 centers all over the world, most of them are in Europe,” said the person in charge, “the one here in Nanjing is the very first ORPEA nursing home in China. There are 111 rooms with 139 beds. We are aiming our services at affluent customers aged above 80, those with disabilities, and those with Alzheimer’s.” The ORPEA nursing home in Nanjing is also equipped with a children’s playground, a five-star restaurant, hair salon, nail salon and flower delivery service.

“Personalized service is our selling point here. For example, if we have 30 seniors living on this floor, and they require 30 different lunches, we will prepare them individual meal according to their demand.” Head nurse Zhang Cuihong explains that each floor has a nurse station to provide care service 24/7. On top of the rent, the basic health care fee for each senior is 6,800 yuan, advanced health care is 14,200 yuan. All rooms at the nursing home are elaborately decorated, aiming to provide the elderly a real “home” surrounding.