The Regional Health Agency of Île-de-France has made a rare and firm decision to immediately suspend the operations of four full-time hospitalization wards at the Fondation Vallée hospital in Gentilly. This decision was made following an inspection that revealed scandalous practices of locking up underage patients in isolation outside legal frameworks. The facility will stop admitting new patients for overnight stays as of February 27, 2026.
Suspension of four wards
As of February 27, the Fondation Vallée hospital suspends full-time pedopsychiatry following intervention by the Regional Health Agency.
Inhumane isolation practices
An inspection from November confirmed the use of unlawful confinement of children, violating French legal norms and medical ethics.
Forced reorganization of the facility
Authorities demand that the hospital in Gentilly immediately adapt to regulations to ensure safe care for underage patients.
The French psychiatric care system has found itself at the center of a scandal following a decision by the Regional Health Agency (ARS) concerning the renowned Fondation Vallée facility in the town of Gentilly. On Thursday, February 19, an immediate suspension of operations for four pedopsychiatry wards providing full hospitalization was announced. Drastic measures are the result of an inspection conducted in November of last year, during which inspectors identified numerous irregularities. The key allegation against the public hospital in the Val-de-Marne department was the unlawful use of confinement and isolation against children and adolescents. French psychiatry law has been significantly tightened in recent years, placing particular emphasis on ensuring isolation measures are used only as a last resort and under strict medical supervision, to prevent abuses in mental health facilities. The decision to halt admissions will take effect on February 27, 2026 and is administrative in nature. Its main goal is to force the hospital management to adapt its procedures to current safety standards. The ARS emphasizes that these steps were taken "urgently" to guarantee the safety of the wards. Previously, numerous reports of improper practices had reached the agency. Although the facility enjoyed a reputation as one of the most important pedopsychiatric centers in the Paris region, the scale of the revealed shortcomings made it impossible for the inpatient wards to continue functioning without radical changes. The management must now carry out a reorganization that eliminates illegal methods of restricting the freedom of underage patients. „This decision aims to guarantee safe care for children following the identification of practices involving the confinement of patients that are not in compliance with regulations.” — ARS Île-de-France Statement The case has sparked a broad discussion in media outlets such as Le Monde and Franceinfo about the state of French child psychiatry. Similar incidents cast a shadow on the system of full hospitalization, suggesting staffing shortages or management errors. Authorities have announced that the wards will be restored to operation only after full compliance with regulations is achieved. Until then, patients requiring round-the-clock care will be referred to other centers in the region. Liberal media place greater emphasis on systemic shortcomings in the funding of psychiatry, which lead to staff abuses against the youngest. | Conservative media focus on the responsibility of the hospital management and the necessity of enforcing rigorous safety procedures.