Author: Don Carrigan Published: 9:30 PM EST March 2, 2022 "Hospital leaders, including Scott Oxley, president of Acadia Hospital in Bangor, said the major problem causing extended patient stays in emergency rooms is a lack of community and residential mental health services. They said the chronic underfunding of those programs, coupled with a worsening shortage of mental health workers, have made treatment hard to find." #SaveMentalHealthinMaine #FundMentalHealthforMaine ... Read More ›

Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer BY JEFF SANDERS, SPECIAL TO THE PRESS HERALD "...We all agree that individuals with mental illness and developmental disabilities should be in the least restrictive settings in which they can safely and successfully live. But when group homes and residential treatment facilities do not have adequate clinical resources to manage a patient’s behavior, they often bring the individual to the ED. When police do not want to criminalize an illness, they have no ... Read More ›

"...Malory Shaughnessy, director of the Alliance for Addiction and Mental Health Services, Maine, acknowledged the systemic improvements being implemented by the administration. But she said it was “really disconcerting” not to hear the governor talk about about the immediate challenge of keeping people alive. “They’re looking at big picture, big fixes which are longer-term responses, which are great and we totally support those,” Shaughnessy said. “But they’re missing the serious crisis ... Read More ›

en. Marianne Moore, R-Calais, is serving her second term in the Maine Senate and is a member of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee. Rep. Lori K. Gramlich, D-Old Orchard Beach, is a long-time social worker serving her second term in the Maine House. She co-chairs the Behavioral Health Caucus. During her State of the State address last week, Gov. Janet Mills outlined her priorities for this legislative session. While we have more to learn about her proposed supplemental ... Read More ›

One of the most talked about aspects of Gov. Janet Mills’ State of the State last week was the proposal to return half of the state’s expected budget surplus to Maine taxpayers in the form of $500 checks for most. Some Republicans criticized the governor for usurping the idea. Former Gov. Paul LePage, who is now running against Mills, called the governor’s plan a gimmick. This is odd criticism since Mills gave Republican legislative leaders full credit for the idea, which may be a hard sell ... Read More ›