Maine’s public health nursing workforce will more than double in the coming months and take on expanded duties — such as responding to the opioid crisis, according to the commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. The public health nursing staff — front-line nurses who respond to infectious disease outbreaks and perform […]
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Maine processors who make pot products facing state crackdown
Tree Tap Extracts in Jay produces marijuana-infused maple sugar candies for patients, some of whom prefer to ingest the drug without having to smoke it. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald) Maine plans to start cracking down on the growing number of labs and kitchens that specialize in turning cannabis into a product that doesn’t have […]
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Social Security numbers of 2,100 Maine foster care participants posted online
The names, addresses and Social Security numbers of roughly 2,100 Mainers who receive foster care benefits were accidentally posted to a public website in September, the Maine Office of Information Technology said Monday. The office “has begun notifying approximately 2,100 individuals of a recent incident that may have resulted in a temporary exposure of their […]
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Maine DHHS misspent funds, but will likely not face penalty
Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Maine DHHS commissioner and Mary Mayhew AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine Department of Health and Human Services unlawfully spent over $13 million in federal funds in 2015 and 2016, but is unlikely to face a penalty for the misuse. DHHS spent $13.4 million in welfare funds on services for elderly and disabled […]
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Paul LePage nominates Ricker Hamilton as DHHS commissioner
Gov. Paul LePage nominated acting Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Ricker Hamilton to be commissioner Tuesday. “We will continue to bring fiscal responsibility and accountability to this department while improving and reforming the programs that are vital to many of our most vulnerable citizens,” LePage said in announcing the nomination. Hamilton has served […]
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Maine lawmaker wants specifics from DHHS on uninvestigated deaths
AUGUSTA (AP) — A Democratic lawmaker says that state health officials failed to provide specific answers about a federal audit revealing the agency failed to investigate the deaths of disabled adults. An August audit by the Office of Inspector General of the federal Department of Health and Human Services found nine deaths were unexplained, suspicious […]
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Maine DHHS withholds stats on 2016 fatal overdoses
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services is prohibiting the release of statistics compiled by a researcher that show how many people had contact with a doctor soon before dying of drug overdoses in 2016, a year that set a third consecutive all-time record for overdose deaths. The information, which would not identify individuals, […]
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Maine lawmakers want to know why deaths went uninvestigated
AUGUSTA (AP) — A legislative panel wants answers from Maine health officials about a federal audit that revealed the agency failed to investigate the deaths of 133 disabled adults. The Portland Press Herald reported (http://bit.ly/2vJEofW ) the Legislature’s health and human services committee sent the Aug. 31 letter to Department of Health and Human Services […]
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Maine legislator calls for answers on uninvestigated deaths in group homes
AUGUSTA (AP) — A leading Democrat wants answers after a federal audit revealed the state didn’t investigate untimely and unexplained deaths in group homes for the developmentally disabled. Democratic Rep. Patty Hymanson says the Legislature’s health and human services committee will work with the state to understand how such incidents happened and improve oversight of […]
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Federal audit: DHHS failed to investigate deaths, suspected abuse of disabled adults
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services failed to investigate the deaths of all 133 people with developmental disabilities who died between January 2013 and June 2015 while under the care of community-based providers across the state, and, as a result, failed to report suspicious deaths to law enforcement agencies to determine if crimes […]