Maine didn’t lose accreditation and $20 million in federal funding at Riverview because it needed a new building, as Gov. Paul LePage would have us believe. It was because of substandard level of care because of inadequate staffing, gaps, tazing, jailing of patients, and lack of qualified leadership at the top to include the governor and his commissioner of Health and Human Services, Mary Mayhew.

Now the two, neither with any professional mental health care background, without any feasibility study in hand, with or without legislative approval, plan spend $3 million to build a new building somewhere in Maine to house the forensic unit.

To run the proposed site, they plan hire yet another unknown, for-profit private contractor to run the place without first telling us how they would go about meeting the accreditation standards set by the federal government.

It is time for the Legislature, Republicans and Democrats, to show some genuine regard for patients, staff at Riverview and taxpayers who expect responsible, financial accountability from state government.

LePage, who is just whipping out $3 million without telling anybody where it comes from, just isn’t getting it.

Patrick Eisenhart

Augusta

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