AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine officials are proposing a plan to build a forensic unit next to Augusta’s Riverview Psychiatric Center in a bid to win back federal funding.
State Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Samantha Edwards tells The Kennebec Journal the plan is to have a secure 21-bed unit completed in 2017 at a cost of $3 million to $5 million. The agency operates Riverview.
The unit would treat mentally ill patients who have committed crimes and no longer require hospital care.
Some state lawmakers say they aren’t opposed to the plan, but need more details regarding how it will be funded and who would operate it.
The federal government revoked Riverview’s certification more than two years ago after regulators found several problems during an audit.
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