View our Treatment and Services page for more information.
Nursing
The nursing staff work within a multidisciplinary team 24 hours a day to ensure that the patients are provided individualized treatment interventions with the goal of successful community integration, assisting each patient to accomplish goals through education or training, administration of prescribed medications/treatments, active treatment, and encouraging the patient to establish lifelong skills and habits to stay well.
Dietetic Services
The mission of Riverview Psychiatric Center's (formerly AMHI) Dietetic Services is to provide nutritious, appetizing, palatable, and varied meals contributing to the psychological, emotional, social and cultural needs of residents. Individual nutrition screening and assessment are completed as an integral part of treatment. All patients are offered nutrition education in group format as well as one to one counseling. Dietetic Services are considered to be an important dimension of care, treatment and rehabilitation efforts.
Human Resources
The Human Resource Office is responsible for payroll and benefits, administration, personnel actions, worker's compensation claims, management, and recruitment and retention activities. Each of these areas is continuously reviewed for competitiveness within the job market. The Human Resource Office advises managers and supervisors assuring civil service and labor relations requirement are satisfied.
Health Information
The purpose of the Medical Records Department is to maintain medical records that are documented accurately and in a timely manner, that are readily accessible and that permit prompt retrieval of information. The function is to maintain a complete and accurate medical record for all patients who receive services at the Riverview Psychiatric Center (formerly AMHI).
Continuous Performance Improvement
The purpose of the Department is to provide a systematic approach to ensure hospital wide performance improvement in patient care and outcomes. Its function is to improve services through evaluating, monitoring and analyzing data pertaining to the areas of high risk, high frequency and high costs. The Department encompasses the areas of Clinical Risk Management, Utilization Review, Medical Staff Credentialing and Hospital-wide Performance Improvement.
Medical Staff
The Medical Staff of Riverview Psychiatric Center is comprised of men and women dedicated to the humane provision of up-to-date psychiatric, medical, and dental care of our patients. The Medical Staff include psychiatrists, internists, family physicians, dentists, podiatrists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and nurse anesthetists all of whom are skilled in modern treatment of mental disorders and concurrent health issues. We provide coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to insure continuity of care and that patient needs are met acutely.
The therapies applied by the Medical Staff include psychiatric diagnostic interviewing, comprehensive physical exams, pharmacotherapy, individual and group psychotherapy, acute and preventive dental treatment, conscious sedation, treatment of primary care health problems, and referral to outside consultants for specialized medical care.
In addition to providing outstanding treatment for our patients, the Medical Staff are involved in medical education and other scholarly activities. We host medical students, physician assistant students, and psychiatric residents from the University of New England, the University of Vermont, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Maine Medical Center. The Medical Staff also sponsors a full program of continuing medical education activities open to practitioners throughout the state of Maine. In addition, the faculty of the Medical Staff is dedicated to the creation of new medical knowledge by publishing research findings in scientific literature.
The Peer Support Program
Peer Support Specialists are individuals hired by Amistad who have personal experience with mental illness and recovery. Peer Support Specialists know firsthand the struggles of living with mental illness. They are living examples that recovery is possible.
What can I expect from the Peer Support Program?
The Peer Support Program at Riverview Psychiatric Center is fully integrated with patient care. Peer Support Specialists are with patients every step of their stay at Riverview. They are present at admissions, and a full-time Peer Support Specialist is assigned to each of the 4 units of the hospital. Peer Support Specialists work weekends; they attend treatment team meetings at the patient's request. Peer Support Specialists facilitate support groups and wellness and recovery classes. They make sure patients' needs are being met, and patients' voices are being heard. They take the time to build relationships with patients. Peer Support Specialists share their wisdom, knowledge and empathy with patients and staff in the hospital.
Pharmacy Services
The Department of Pharmacy Services at Riverview Psychiatric Center (RPC) is dedicated to providing patient centric pharmaceutical care and clinical services in support of patients receiving psychiatric treatment at the hospital and affiliated sites.
The RPC Pharmacy provides psychopharmacological and general pharmaceutical clinical services, ensures medication safety in all facets of pharmacy operations and medication management, performs ongoing proactive medication reviews, works collaboratively with RPC's Medical Staff to develop policies and procedures to ensure maximum patient benefit and medication safety, as well as, formulary management to ensure cost effective drugs are being utilized.
Psychological Services
The mission of the Riverview Psychiatric Center's Department of Psychology Services is to provide state of the art consultation, assessment, and counseling services for patients recovering from mental illness and co-occurring (substance abuse) disorders.
Psychology provides a broad range of assessments in response to specific referral questions posed by the treatment teams throughout the hospital. These include assessments to aid in diagnosis and treatment planning, neuropsychological testing to address more complex diagnostic questions for patients who present with complicated cognitive problems, and capacity evaluations to address patients' ability to make decisions about medical treatment. In addition, the forensic psychologists provide clinical risk assessments for forensic patients transitioning to the community and for forensic patients served in by the Outpatient Services (OPS) team. Unit psychologists provide consultation to treatment teams and develop specialized behavioral plans as needed, including cooperating with other staff on implementing daily or hourly behavioral assessment protocols.
Psychological services can be accessed through the treatment team and/or physicians orders. Inquiries about services can be addressed to any of the unit psychologists or to the Director of Psychology.
Chaplaincy Services
Chaplaincy Services provide spiritual care and pastoral counseling, religious services, and education. The staff Chaplain is available Monday through Thursday and Sunday morning. Chaplaincy Services is directed by the staff Chaplain and includes volunteer Roman Catholic Eucharistic Ministers and a priest appointed by the Diocese of Portland for sacramental ministry to patients. The staff Chaplain secures volunteers for needed spiritual services that cannot be met by Chaplaincy Services.