2019 Maine Behavioral Healthcare Annual Report

A message from our President

Dear friends,

The past year marked exciting growth and celebration for Maine Behavioral Healthcare. On January 1, 2019, we became part of a unified organization as we joined the MaineHealth family of care, which represents a hospital system of 10 member organizations serving much of Maine and Carroll County, New Hampshire. Through unification we are now well positioned to leverage the scale and expertise of the MaineHealth system to deliver high-quality, coordinated care for our patients and clients.

Maine Behavioral Healthcare is the most comprehensive behavioral health provider in Maine employing over 1,100 people. We provide care to an extremely vulnerable population; individuals with mental illness, substance use, autism and developmental disabilities and those with co-occurring illnesses, such as those with depression combined with opioid use disorder. With 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. facing mental illness each year1 and suicide representing the 2nd leading cause of death for those aged 10-342 the need for our services is critical.

In this report you will read stories of the strides we have made to meet the needs of our communities and what it means to those receiving our services. Our cover story shares the tale of a young man with autism who serves as a testament to the need for expanded services in this area and we are meeting that need. You will read about our expansion of services for substance use disorder at our new treatment location in South Portland and how we are working with Southern Maine Health Care to expand inpatient treatment in Sanford.

While this publication is a reflection of 2019 I would be remiss not to draw attention to our organization’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in 2020, with support of the MaineHealth system we quickly implemented an array of safety precautions designed to limit the spread of the virus. Within a few short weeks we were able to expand our ability to leverage the use of telehealth technology to continue providing services to individuals in our community. From mid-March through the end of May 2020, we conducted a total of 35,000 visits using telehealth. Our progress will be more detailed in next year’s report.

What I find most impressive in these stories is the incredible dedication shown by our care team members. The work they do can be difficult but our staff consistently puts our patients and clients first. This report represents a mere fraction of the care and compassion I see from our employees every day. I hope you enjoy reading these samples of the impact they make on some very special people.

Suellen Griffin, FACHE Interim President