Maine’s watchdog agency finds that the state made thorough efforts, but it couldn’t determine how or whether Child Protective Services could have prevented Sylus Melvin’s killing in 2021.
maine department of health and human services
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Cumberland County resident tests positive for West Nile virus
Health officials believe the resident, who has not recently left the state, represents the first locally acquired case of the disease since 2020.
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Posted inHealth
Maine’s mental health treatment law: To whom does it apply and how does it work?
Amid an increase in calls for more use of court-ordered outpatient treatment plans, the statute is relatively narrow as to who it can be applied to.
Posted inHealth
Maine continues to see high hepatitis C infections despite overall declining rate
The rate of new acute cases, though highest in the nation, has decreased every year since peaking in 2020.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, Maine Crime
Maine is still sending psych patients to controversial South Carolina hospital despite complaints
Justin Butterfield, 35, was committed to a state psychiatric hospital after killing his brother during a mental health crisis. His family is worried about him after he was transferred to a private hospital in South Carolina that has been likened to a prison.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
A 13-year-old Bingham girl has been stuck in the ER since Christmas. She just wants a place to call home.
Her parents, hospital officials, advocates and state officials want to find a placement, but there’s no place else to go.
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: DHHS must not bungle home health, direct-care rules
Maine can’t afford to further weaken its tottering health care system. A strong and viable direct-care network is the foundation of that system.
Posted inLocal & State, Maine Crime, News
A judge committed these Maine patients to a hospital. Some say they’re being sent to prison.
Maine has been quietly sending people found not criminally responsible for their crimes to a controversial, for-profit facility in South Carolina where they say they are not getting mental health treatment.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Maine urged to raise wages for home health aides, long-term care workers
The Maine Center for Economic Policy recommends that health support workers be paid at least 140% of minimum wage, or $19.80 per hour.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Mills appoints longtime deputy as acting commissioner of DHHS
Sara Gagné-Holmes, who has been number 2 at the Department of Health and Human Services for 5 years, has been named acting commissioner to replace Jeanne Lambrew.