AUGUSTA (AP) – Even before the state’s $31 million Riverview Psychiatric Center opens Saturday, a group that pressed for the new facility fears the 92-bed psychiatric hospital might be too small.

The Rev. David Glusker, a minister who heads the Augusta-based Citizens Advisory Group, said the figures from the Maine Medical Association prove the need to build a third wing on the new state hospital.

Glusker’s organization was formed several years ago to oppose the proposed closure of Augusta Mental Health Institute and later proposed that Riverview Psychiatric Center be built larger to replace AMHI.

“It is in the best interest of the citizens of Maine to have an adequate number of beds, both for forensic patients and civil patients, so the sickest of the sick have a place to be,” Glusker said.

But acting AMHI Superintendent Jamie Morrill said the numbers may improve with the new hospital and community programs.

He also said Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook has a new program for autistic adults, and state officials have developed special housing for long-stay AMHI patients. Both moves would reduce the hospital census, he said.

Officials from the Maine Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services signed an agreement last year to increase care if the percentage of patients turned away from Riverview exceeds 30 percent for six months.

The agreement also calls for one wing of AMHI to be kept ready to reopen for a year.

Statistics gathered over the past 13 months show only three months when the percentage of patients turned away was below the 30-percent level. The past three quarters have all exceeded that threshold.

The most recent quarter, January-March, saw more than 60 percent of the qualified candidates turned away from AMHI.

“We have the information. And I think it’s only going to get worse and the information more dramatic as they move into a smaller facility,” Glusker. “It only makes sense to act on the information.”

AP-ES-06-10-04 0847EDT