AUGUSTA — Lawmakers on the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday were updated on the status of the state’s embattled Riverview Psychiatric Center. The state’s only “forensic” hospital that houses people with violent mental illnesses has for months been under the scrutiny of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The hospital is […]
Riverview
Posted inMaine
Dems say way forward for Riverview remains unclear
LEWISTON — Democratic state lawmakers on the budget-writing Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee are saying they were misled and misinformed when they agreed to back Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal aimed at preserving about $17 million in federal funding for the Riverview Psychiatric Center. Despite passage of a law change expanding the staff and treatment capacity […]
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Increased violence at Maine’s psych hospital prompts reform
AUGUSTA — Of the 92 people in state custody who were found “not criminally responsible” for crimes, 18 have been charged with at least one count of murder. That’s more than 20 percent of the state’s so-called “NCR” population, while less than 2 percent of those serving time in Maine prisons have been convicted of […]
Posted inOur View
Riverview’s most dangerous patients must be moved
Forensic patients at Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta are “running the show,” according to an employee who works there. This employee, who recently spoke to the Sun Journal on the condition that we not use a name for fear of retaliation, said “the most violent, sociopathic and antisocial clients are in a hospital setting where […]
Posted inOur View
Two events show government here isn’t doing its job
Behind the posturing of elected politicians, there is an actual state government to be run, a government we expect to act efficiently, effectively and professionally. But judging by two recent revelations, some parts of state government are not being run that way at all. It has been reported that federal inspectors found troubling instances of […]
Posted inMaine
Assault complaints up at Maine psych hospital
AUGUSTA — In the past year, Capitol Police have been called to the state’s Riverview Psychiatric Center 242 times — 83 times for assault complaints, Chief Russell Gauvin said. He said Wednesday that police calls to Riverview increased from the prior year, when his officers responded to 186 calls at the facility, including 25 assault […]
Posted inMaine
Maine Legislature ad-hoc committee mulls Riverview funding crisis
AUGUSTA — Whether the state chooses to expand a mental health unit at the state prison in Warren may have little bearing on whether the federal government cuts off $20 million in funding from Maine’s Riverview Psychiatric Center. An ad-hoc committee of lawmakers, hastily formed last week in light of the looming funding crisis, contemplated the […]
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Repeating the travesty of AMHI
In January an employee of Riverview Psychiatric Center was attacked by a resident who had been living there for the past seven years under court order, prompting federal regulators to tour the facility in March and again in May. Regulators uncovered dozens of deficiencies, some of which were so serious that the federal government is […]
Posted inMaine
In light of Riverview issues, Maine lawmakers contemplate plan to expand psych ward at state prison
AUGUSTA — Key lawmakers on the Legislature’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee said Thursday they could support a $3.3 million bill that would expand the mental health ward at the Maine State Prison in Warren but weren’t quite ready to sign off on the measure. Still in question is whether the legislation, offered by Gov. Paul LePage, […]