PARIS, May 2 (Reuters) - French care homes company Orpea , which has faced investigations into how it runs its centres and treats its elderly residents, named Laurent Guillot at its new chief executive on Monday.

In March, the French government said it planned to file a criminal complaint against Orpea over allegations of the mistreatment of elderly patients.

Orpea has said there is no system of widespread abuse at its care homes, and added on Monday that it had started to improve its business practices, such as establishing a listening unit for families and a mediation unit, as well as strengthening the whistleblowing system for employees.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Editing by Louise Heavens)