AUGUSTA, Maine — A woman said her 11-year-old son has been in a hospital emergency room for a week waiting for a room to open up in a psychiatric hospital.
DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew said it’s a problem they’re trying to fix, but they need help from the Legislature. Meanwhile, many families are waiting far too long to get the services they need.
Martha Collins said she and her husband adopted Brock when he was just 5 months old. He was born with autism and fetal alcohol syndrome.
Last week, she said he became aggressive. “It was no longer safe at home. He was becoming very assaultive,” Collins said.
Collins brought him to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta to try to get him into a psychiatric hospital. That was seven days ago.
“They make the calls about three times a day to present him and see if there’s any beds available and the rest of it is just us sitting in the room with him waiting,” Collins said.
“We have certainly seen significant challenges throughout the system,” Mayhew said.
Mayhew said Riverview Psychiatric Center has seen so many patients come in through the criminal justice system that other civil patients aren’t getting their services in a timely manner.
“It sends a ripple effect throughout the entire system,” Mayhew said.
Mayhew has been pushing for another free-standing facility, specifically for patients coming through the criminal justice system, to make more space for other patients.
It’s faced opposition from some legislators who feel the plan needs further review.
“The Legislature needs to be an effective partner with us and help support increased capacity for those that have come through the criminal justice system,” Mayhew said.
“It needs to change. There needs to be more beds for kids,” Collins said.
Collins said her son Brock will be heading to Spring Harbor Hospital on Tuesday morning, but she’s afraid this could happen again.
“If this treatment doesn’t work, we’ll be right back here sitting in the emergency room waiting again,” Collins said.
Mayhew said DHHS plans to bring up this issue to the Legislature again. In the meantime, they’re working to shift resources to address these challenges.