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Democrats, Republicans Spar Over Proposed Augusta Psychiatric Facility

House Republicans Thursday ramped up the pressure on Democrats to approve construction of a new 21-bed psychiatric facility next door to the state’s Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta. Each side is accusing the other of playing politics with the issue, and the project is still on hold.

House GOP leader Ken Fredette called a morning news conference to urge approval of the facility. He told reporters the state is facing a crisis in its efforts to provide services to those with serious mental health needs and that Democrats are playing politics with the issue.

Deputy DHHS Commissioner Ricker Hamilton, who was also on hand, echoed a call for action.

“This is real, and you will have a situation that comes up and when you hear about beds being backed up, just think of this. That’s why we can’t prolong this. The need is now,” he says.

The press conference was held in advance of a meeting by the Legislative Council. Because the facility is within the capitol area, state law requires the approval of the council, which is made up of the elected leaders of the Legislature. With five members from each party, six votes are needed to pass any measure.

Democrats on the council say they still have questions about the facility, its operations and its cost, but Fredette says it’s just politics.

“Your particular comment on this is that the administration may feel that they want to move faster but they should take responsibility and acknowledge three or four years of mismanagement at Riverview requires three or four weeks of oversight by the Legislature, and that’s just playing politics,” he says.

But the leader of the Democrats on the council, House Speaker Sara Gideon of Freeport, says that Fredette is the one who’s playing politics.

“While I had my office calling the governor’s office and, you know, trying to have conversations additionally with my counterpart down the hall, President Thibodeau, about a way forward, I did look over at your office and find out instead, you were at a press conference playing politics with this,” she says.

Gideon says that she and Senate President Mike Thibodeau, a Republican from Winterport, are working to come up with a bipartisan solution to the issue. She says Democrats believe a new facility is needed, but want it done right. And Thibodeau says a solution may be close at hand.

“The reality is people ought to be checking in with Justice Wathen who is, has purview, oversight over this entire Riverview complex and what is going on over there,” he says.

Former Maine Supreme Court Chief Justice Dan Wathen is the court master overseeing the state’s implementation of a consent decree that covers the quality of care the state provides to those who are mentally ill.

Both Thibodeau and Gideon say they may accelerate assignments to the new Health and Human Services Committee in order to hold hearings later this month and make a recommendation to the council.

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.