Gov. Paul LePage has nominated acting commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, Ricker Hamilton, to take the top post that was vacated earlier this year by Mary Mayhew — a choice that is likely to draw fire from some lawmakers.
As deputy DHHS commissioner, Hamilton ran several different divisions within the agency, including the Office of Aging and Disability Services and the Office of Child and Family Services. He was also in charge of the embattled Riverview Psychiatric Center.
In June, after Mayhew resigned to run for governor, Hamilton was tapped to serve as acting commissioner. Now the governor wants to make it permanent.
Rep. Patty Hymanson, a Democrat from York who co-chairs the legislative committee that oversees DHHS, says lawmakers will have a lot of questions for Hamilton at his confirmation hearing.
“Because Ricker Hamilton has a history, we have a lot of questions to ask him about his prior behavior and what will continue into the future,” she says.
Hymanson says Hamilton has followed the governor’s lead in stonewalling lawmakers’ questions about a wide variety of programs in the department.
“That is a tremendous frustration that I have and I know the committee shares,” she says. “I think that comes from Gov. LePage’s directive to the Department of Health and Human Services at all levels.”
Of particular concern is the proposed residential psychiatric facility originally planned for Augusta, and now slated for Bangor. The administration’s refusal to answer questions about the facility and how it will be operated has also concerned several Republicans.
This story was originally published Oct. 3, 2017 at 5:17 p.m. ET.
