| Riverview Psychiatric Center | |
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| Geography | |
| Location | Augusta, Maine, United States |
| Organization | |
| Type | Specialist |
| Services | |
| Speciality | Psychiatric hospital |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in Maine |
Riverview Psychiatric Center, also known as Riverview Psychiatric Recovery Center, is a psychiatric hospital in Augusta, Maine, operated by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. [1] The center recruits for volunteers from the United Way for certain services. [2]
Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from, and eventually replaced, the older lunatic asylums. The development of the modern psychiatric hospital is also the story of the rise of organised, institutional psychiatry. In the 19th century, institutionalisation was found to be the "correct solution" to the problem of "madness".
In 1834, the Maine Legislature established the Maine Insane Hospital, and together with private donations, state appropriations enabled the hospital to open in 1840. [3]
From 1946 to 1962, Dr. Francis Harper Sleeper (1900-1983) served as the superintendent, and his name lent itself to the Sleeper Era, a period of several changes to services, including "unitary control" of nursing, hiring of an additional psychologist and interns, hiring of a pharmacist and a dentist, and creation of a library with a librarian. [3] From the late 1940s through the early 1960s, "the hospital experienced extensive over-crowding." [3] In the 1960s, a new superintendent, Dr. John C. Patterson, mandated discharge of patients to support their rights (as opposed to leaves of absence), which raised admissions, yet, "the population began to drop because of use of new medications." [3]
In the early 1970s, many patients were de-institutionalized under the rubric of patient rights, by supervisor Roy Ettlinger, which led to the inmate population dropping from 1,500 to 350. [3] Patient advocates were also hired, and an ongoing reevaluation of the removal of patients continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s. [3] In 2004, a new "92-bed civil and forensic psychiatric treatment facility" was built to replace the now-old state hospital. [3]
In 2007, a state investigation revealed that many potential patients were turned away. [4] At the time, a report to the state legislature reported that the vast majority had other places to go for help, but eight percent, or 30 patients, ended up in emergency rooms. [5]
As of August 1, 2012, the center had 57 forensic patients and 35 civil patients, meaning that some forensic patients are occupying beds on the civil side of the hospital. The center also has recently put many forensic patients in nearby Augusta group homes, resulting in a petition with 150 signatures calling for their closure by neighbors with safety concerns. Augusta Mayor William Stokes also expressed concern over Augusta's bearing an unfair burden of mental health patients. [6]
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced on October 2, 2013, that Riverview's Medicare Provider Agreement would be terminated, ending the roughly $20 million in federal funds the center receives a year, due to numerous problems at the center. These include contentions that the facility is overcrowded, inadequately staffed, and has used improper methods to control patients, including the use of Tasers. DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew stated that the State would appeal the decision, and that if it stood, the Center cannot make up for the loss of the federal funds. [7] In June 2014, the appeal was rejected, citing concerns about document compliance. Mayhew stated that progress has still been made, as only one issue was found by CMS as opposed to the eight initially found, and that DHHS would again reapply. Despite the appeal by the Department, Governor Paul LePage has expressed criticism of attempts to regain accreditation, once stating that "With the federal money, some of the fine print is so atrocious that sometimes we do more harm than good", though he later backed away from those comments, calling the loss of accreditation "shameful" and "disgusting". [8]
In August 2014, the sign outside the center was replaced and featured a new name: the Riverview Psychiatric Recovery Center, though the legal name of the facility will remain as it was before. A DHHS spokesman stated that unlike the original one, the sign, which cost $1,236.30, is virtually maintenance free. The change in name was made to reflect "the new culture of recovery and excellence that is being built at the hospital". State legislators were not aware of the changes and State Senator Margaret Craven criticized the administration by saying "They pay more attention to signs than to treatment of people". [9]
Riverview Psychiatric Center provides a number of services to patients.
The crisis stabilization unit is in effect an emergency room for psychiatry, frequently dealing with suicidal, violent, or otherwise critical individuals. Laws in many jurisdictions providing for long-term involuntary commitment require a commitment order issued by a judge within a short time (after 72 hours, the evaluation period) of the patient's entry to the unit, if the patient does not or is unable to give consent. In Maine, this is also true. [10]
As of 2010, some criminal defendants are held at Riverview Psychiatric Center, especially those who claim the insanity defense. [11]
Outpatient commitment—also called assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) or community treatment orders (CTO)—refers to a civil court procedure wherein a legal process orders an individual diagnosed with a severe mental disorder to adhere to an outpatient treatment plan designed to prevent further deterioration or recurrence that is harmful to themselves or others.
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health units or behavioral health units, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialize only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients. Others may specialize in the temporary or permanent containment of patients who need routine assistance, treatment, or a specialized and controlled environment due to a psychiatric disorder. Patients often choose voluntary commitment, but those whom psychiatrists believe to pose significant danger to themselves or others may be subject to involuntary commitment and involuntary treatment. Psychiatric hospitals may also be called psychiatric wards/units when they are a subunit of a regular hospital.
Forensic psychiatry is a subspeciality of psychiatry and is related to criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry. According to the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, it is defined as "a subspecialty of psychiatry in which scientific and clinical expertise is applied in legal contexts involving civil, criminal, correctional, regulatory, or legislative matters, and in specialized clinical consultations in areas such as risk assessment or employment." A forensic psychiatrist provides services – such as determination of competency to stand trial – to a court of law to facilitate the adjudicative process and provide treatment, such as medications and psychotherapy, to criminals.
Involuntary treatment refers to medical treatment undertaken without the consent of the person being treated. Involuntary treatment is permitted by law in some countries when overseen by the judiciary through court orders; other countries defer directly to the medical opinions of doctors.
Telepsychiatry is the application of telemedicine to the specialty field of psychiatry. The term typically describes the delivery of psychiatric assessment and care through telecommunications technology, usually videoconferencing. Telepsychiatry services can be offered through intermediary companies that partner with facilities to increase care capacities, or by individual providers or provider groups. Most commonly, telepsychiatry encounters take place at medical facilities under the supervision of onsite staff, though at-home models are becoming accepted as long as they are in compliance with HIPAA standards.
The Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry is a psychiatric hospital and Russia's main center of forensic psychiatry. In the past, the institution was called the Serbsky Institute.
Isaac Ray was an American psychiatrist, one of the founders of the discipline of forensic psychiatry. In 1838, he published A Treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity (Boston), which served as an authoritative text for many years.
Florida State Hospital (FSH) is a hospital and psychiatric hospital in Chattahoochee, Florida. Established in 1876, it was Florida's only state mental institution until 1947. It currently has a capacity of 1,042 patients. The hospital's current Administration Building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Riverview Hospital was a Canadian mental health facility located in Coquitlam, British Columbia. It operated under the governance of BC Mental Health & Addiction Services when it closed in July 2012. In December 2015, the provincial government announced plans to replace the obsolete buildings with new mental health facilities scheduled to open in about 2019. As of 2019, several unsafe buildings have been torn down but no new construction has started.
Political abuse of psychiatry, also commonly referred to as punitive psychiatry, is the misuse of psychiatry, including diagnosis, detention, and treatment, for the purposes of obstructing the human rights of individuals and/or groups in a society. In other words, abuse of psychiatry is the deliberate action of having citizens psychiatrically diagnosed who need neither psychiatric restraint nor psychiatric treatment. Psychiatrists have been involved in human rights abuses in states across the world when the definitions of mental disease were expanded to include political disobedience. As scholars have long argued, governmental and medical institutions code menaces to authority as mental diseases during political disturbances. Nowadays, in many countries, political prisoners are sometimes confined and abused in psychiatric hospitals.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the psychiatric survivors movement:
Political abuse of psychiatry is the purported misuse of psychiatric diagnosis, detention and treatment for the purposes of obstructing the fundamental human rights of certain groups and individuals in a society. In other words, abuse of psychiatry including one for political purposes is deliberate action of getting citizens certified, who, because of their mental condition, need neither psychiatric restraint nor psychiatric treatment. Psychiatrists have been involved in human rights abuses in states across the world when the definitions of mental disease were expanded to include political disobedience. As scholars have long argued, governmental and medical institutions code menaces to authority as mental diseases during political disturbances. Nowadays, in many countries, political prisoners are sometimes confined and abused in mental institutions. Psychiatric confinement of sane people is uniformly considered a particularly pernicious form of repression.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to psychiatry:
Mental health in Russia is covered by a law, known under its official name—the Law of the Russian Federation "On Psychiatric Care and Guarantees of Citizens' Rights during Its Provision", which is the basic legal act that regulates psychiatric care in the Russian Federation and applies not only to persons with mental disorders but all citizens. A notable exception of this rule is those vested with parliamentary or judicial immunity. Providing psychiatric care is regulated by a special law regarding guarantees of citizens' rights.
Niuvanniemi hospital is a state mental hospital in the Niuva district of Kuopio, Finland. Along with the other state mental hospital, Vanha Vaasa hospital, it provides forensic psychiatric services for the entire country. Niuvanniemi is the main location for secure housing and involuntary commitment of criminal patients, and also receives difficult-to-treat or dangerous mental patients from other hospitals. Niuvanniemi is active in forensic psychiatry research, as a clinic of University of Eastern Finland.
The Alaska Psychiatric Institute is a psychiatric hospital in Anchorage, Alaska that provides inpatient and outpatient mental health services for the state.
The Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center is a psychiatric hospital operated by the state of Maine. It is located at 656 State Street in Bangor, and was previously known as the Eastern Maine Insane Asylum and the Bangor Mental Health Institute. It was established in 1895, and the main building on its campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Maine Insane Hospital, later the Augusta Mental Health Institute, was a psychiatric hospital in Augusta, Maine. It was the principal facility for the care and treatment of Maine's mentally ill from 1840 to 2004, and its surviving buildings represent the oldest surviving complex of mental care facilities in the United States. The complex is located on the east bank of the Kennebec River, immediately south of the former Kennebec Arsenal, and now primarily houses state offices. The hospital was replaced by the Riverview Psychiatric Center in 2004, located just to the south. The hospital's core complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, with the listing enlarged to encompass the entire campus in 2001.
Maine Question 2, formally entitled "An Act To Enhance Access to Affordable Health Care", was a citizen-initiated ballot measure that appeared on the November 7, 2017 statewide ballot in the State of Maine. Maine Question 2 sought to expand Medicaid eligibility under the terms of the Affordable Care Act. The measure passed.
Coordinates: 44°18′00″N69°46′12″W / 44.300°N 69.770°W
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