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Maine DHHS Commissioner Avoids Contempt Hearing

ALFRED, Maine - Maine Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew will avoid a contempt hearing after she agreed to comply with court orders to admit two jail inmates to the state's psychiatric hospital.

The Portland Press Herald reports that Justice Paul Fritzsche postponed Mayhew's hearing Monday in York County Superior Court. The move gives Mayhew's staff 10 days to admit the second of the two inmates to the Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta.

Attorney Amy Fairfield had said Riverview refused to accept her client even though he was found incompetent to stand trial and ordered into DHHS custody.

Health and Human Services has struggled to fund and staff Riverview, which lost $20 million in funding after health officials discovered deficiencies such as using stun-guns on patients, improper record-keeping and poor treatment plans.