Legislators could take up private rehab facility in January

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine’s new batch of legislators may take up the construction of a privately run rehabilitation facility in Augusta next month.

Republican Gov. Paul LePage is looking for other locations for a proposed 21-bed facility after an arcane law allowed Democratic leaders calling for more oversight of the facility to block construction in the capital city. LePage’s administration says the state Department of Health and Human Services has the $5 million needed to build and operate the facility.

On Thursday, Republican House Minority Leader Ken Fredette unsuccessfully asked legislative leaders to reconsider the building. Moving the facility would increase costs.

Lawmakers could revisit the matter in January. Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon said new legislature and governor should ensure patients’ safety and rights are protected.

Legislators, including Republican Sen. Roger Katz, have said the administration hasn’t presented the latest version of the plan to legislators and argue the public needs answers to questions like who will fund the facility in years to come.

At a press conference Thursday, Fredette said Democrats are only using the issue to oppose LePage, and said the administration’s spent plenty of time answering questions over the past years.

Ricker Hamilton, the deputy commissioner of programs for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said legislators’ concerns about issues like performance measures and staffing ratios will be addressed during the “very open” process of finding an agency to run the facility.

The facility would house individuals deemed not criminally responsible for wrongdoings and who no longer need hospital care. Such individuals are currently housed at Riverview Psychiatric Center, and supporters say the new building would free up greatly needed beds.

People have to wait at least a week to get into Riverview, according to Hamilton.

Advocates for the mentally ill have called the administration’s previous proposals “vague” and worried the facility would operate more like a prison than a treatment center. But now, the leader of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Maine, says the group supports the plan.

The LePage administration also say the new facility would help the state regain certification from the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which has threatened to disallow $20 million in federal funding after uncovering issues like improper use of Tasers on patients.