Psychiatric Hospital in Maine is Saved from Federal Funding Cuts for Now

As overcrowding issues validate claims of an increase in the need for mental health treatment services in Maine, the Governor announces the crisis facing Riverview Psychiatric in Augusta has been averted.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had notified the state Riverview's certification status would be revoked by Monday, September 2, 2103, which would have resulted in the loss of twenty-million dollars worth of federal funding support.

The Governor says a letter was received last night stating the feds were satisfied with the hospital's plan to address their concerns about over staffing and corrections officials being used in the hospital to subdue patients.

State lawmakers approved a plan yesterday to create a mental health wing at the state prison. In addition, 20 beds at Riverview will be de-certified allowing it to continue using correctional officers. But it will no longer get Medicaid or Medicare reimbursements for those beds.