AUGUSTA — A special committee created to address patient care and staff safety issues at Riverview Psychiatric Center held its first meeting Tuesday.

The committee was created this fall following reports of health and safety issues at Riverview, which led the federal government to pull its funding of Riverview.

“We’re committed to continuing to address the issues, and do everything we can to ensure we are providing the necessary treatment for patients, and that patients and staff are safe,” Sen. Stan Gerzofsky of Brunswick, the Senate chairman of the committee, said in a news release. “This is one small step in solving a very complex problem.” Earlier this year, the Federal

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued several reports citing staffing issues, worker safety, and patient treatment at Riverview, a facility that treats both civil and forensic patients who are mentally ill.

In an emergency session, the Legislature passed LD 1515, “An Act to Increase the Availability of Mental Health Services,” to address some of the feds’ concerns. The bill calls for the expansion of the mental health unit at Warren prison, and creates the Forensic Mental Health Services Oversight Committee to oversee the expansion and the provision of mental health services to patients in correctional facilities.

In early September, the LePage administration repeatedly assured lawmakers that the emergency measure passed by the Legislature to expand a mental health unit in the Maine State Prison in Warren would address the federal government’s concerns by reducing the patient load at Riverview. However, CMS terminated its provider agreement with Riverview following an unannounced site visit to the facility in mid-September. CMS cited its ongoing concern with the handling and co-mingling of the so-called forensic and civil patients, often citing safety concerns and lack of adequate numbers of staff.

“Correctly implementing the expansion of the mental health unit at the prison is just one piece of a much broader effort of improving the overall care for people suffering from mental illness — but it is a critical piece,” said Rep. Drew Gattine of Westbrook, the House chairman of the committee. “As legislators, it is our obligation to do whatever we can to ensure that people in need of mental health treatment receive care that is effective, safe and respectful of their human rights, whether it is at hospitals like Riverview, in the corrections system or in the community.”

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