LEWISTON, Maine (AP) An investigation shows two hospitals in Lewiston, Maine, turned away psychiatric patients and had them arrested, causing their conditions to worsen in some cases.
The Bangor Daily News reports that hospital staff at Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center deleted patient records, or never recorded the encounters.
Licensing inspectors found that Central Maine Medical Center even instructed police and ambulances not to bring patients with mental health problems because it doesn’t provide services for them.
Those acts were a violation of federal law that requires all hospitals receiving Medicare funding to screen and stabilize anyone who shows up at the emergency room requesting treatment.
The hospitals have since submitted plans detailing how they’ll correct the violations, allowing them to continue receiving Medicare payments.
