AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage faced criticism Wednesday for his plan to have an out-of-state contractor run a 21-bed psychiatric residence using money budgeted for community mental health services.
The LePage administration shouldn’t follow through on plans to direct roughly $5 million of such unspent funding to the residence, according to a Tuesday court filing by attorney Daniel Wathen, who oversees a 1989 consent decree that lays out the rights of mental health patients in Maine.
Tennessee-based Correct Care Recovery Solutions and Maine are negotiating a $60.3 million contract to run the one-story residence, which would temporarily house some psychiatric patients who no longer need hospital care, on the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center campus in Bangor.
The state plans to set aside funds for the contract “within the next several days,” according to Wathen.
LePage’s spokeswoman said the outgoing administration values Wathen’s recommendation and will take it under advisement as it “moves forward with this project.”
“It is important to note that with the exception of his objection to the use of consent decree funding, the department is not aware of any other concerns the court master has with the step-down unit,” said spokeswoman Julie Rabinowitz.
The state has neglected to spend about $5 million budgeted for community mental health services even as Maine struggles to provide enough care to individuals, according to Wathen. He said he spoke with one medication management clinic that had a waitlist of 489 adults. “There is at present a pressing need for services and we have the ironic situation of unspent funds and yet waitlists for services,” Wathen said in the court filing.
The so-called “step-down” facility would house individuals with severe and persistent mental illness who were court-ordered to live at state psychiatric hospitals and now seek a lower level of treatment before returning to their community.
Construction has started on the facility, which could be completed by summer 2019, according to Wathen. Correct Care has fought this year to keep details of the residence secret.
The governor, lawmakers and advocates have long agreed the secure residence could shorten waitlists and ensure millions in jeopardized federal funding for a state psychiatric center that is taking steps to regain federal certification. But LePage grew frustrated with questions raised by some lawmakers, and decided to move ahead on plans by himself without legislative approval or appropriated funding.
Democratic Gov.-elect Janet Mills, who is also the state’s attorney general, requested this week that the LePage administration put a halt on finalizing state contracts until after she is sworn in Jan. 2. LePage declined the request and said she’ll have a chance to review contracts once she’s governor.
A spokesperson for Mills provided a statement, but didn’t respond to a question about whether Mills’ move was specifically related to ongoing negotiations with Correct Care.
“The Governor-elect has made clear her position on new, pending contracts,” she said in the statement. “Otherwise, she, in conjunction with her future administration officials, will address them after she is sworn in as governor next month. Until then, she will withhold judgment.”
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