An Act to Require Data Collection on and Reporting of Psychiatric
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1239
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: SHAGOURY, MOORE
Amends: 34-B MRSA §3004, 34-B MRSA §3863

Legislative Document
No. 1239
H.P. 814
House of Representatives, March 25, 2025
An Act to Require Data Collection on and Reporting of Psychiatric 
Hospital Resources and Transparency in Denials of Emergency 
Involuntary Admissions to Psychiatric Hospitals
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SHAGOURY of Hallowell.
Cosponsored by Senator MOORE of Washington and
Representatives: BRENNAN of Portland, CLOUTIER of Lewiston, GRAHAM of North 
Yarmouth, GRAMLICH of Old Orchard Beach, MCCABE of Lewiston, ZAGER of Portland, 
Senator: DUSON of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  34-B MRSA §3004, sub-§3, ¶C, as amended by PL 1995, c. 560, Pt. K, 
§33, is further amended to read:
C.  Prepare a report that describes the system of community support services in each 
of the mental health service regions and statewide.
(1)  The report must include both existing service resources and deficiencies in the 
system of services., including:
(a)  An analysis of existing service resources and system deficiencies. The 
analysis must specifically identify any deficiency that contributed to a denial 
of a referral as reported to the department under section 3863, subsection 3, 
paragraph D, subparagraph (4) and section 3863, subsection 3-A; and
(b)  Recommendations on resources and supports that are needed to address 
identified deficiencies and that would enable a facility to accept an individual 
who would otherwise be denied admission.
(2)  The report must include an assessment of the roles and responsibilities of 
mental health agencies, human services agencies, health agencies and involved 
state departments and must suggest ways in which these agencies and departments 
can better cooperate to improve the service system for people with chronic mental 
illness.
(3)  The report must be prepared biennially and, must be submitted to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over human resources 
matters by December 15th of every even-numbered year and must be publicly 
accessible, including on the department's website.
(4)  The committee shall review the report and make recommendations with respect 
to administrative and funding improvements in the system of community support 
services to persons with chronic mental illness; and
Sec. 2.  34-B MRSA §3004, sub-§3, ¶D, as amended by PL 2011, c. 348, §9, is 
further amended to read:
D.  Participate with school administrative units in transition planning for each student 
with chronic mental illnesses who is receiving special education services and who is 
years of age or older, or 14 years of age if determined appropriate by the student's 
individualized education program team, and shall assign appropriate staff as a 
transition contact person and as a member of the transition planning team for each 
student.; and
Sec. 3.  34-B MRSA §3004, sub-§3, ¶E is enacted to read:
E.  By December 15th of every even-numbered year, each psychiatric hospital, as 
defined in section 3801, subsection 7-B, shall submit a biennial report to the 
department, including:
(1) The total number of inpatient beds for which the hospital controls admission;
(2) The physical address of each facility within the State with inpatient beds under 
the hospital's control and the number of licensed beds at each facility; and
(3) The total number of days each inpatient bed was occupied by a patient as 
defined in section 3801, subsection 7.
By January 15th of every odd-numbered year, the department shall compile the data 
received under this paragraph into a report that identifies statewide trends and 
utilization patterns and make the report publicly accessible, including on the 
department's website.
Sec. 4.  34-B MRSA §3863, sub-§3, ¶D, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 309, §3, is 
amended by amending subparagraph (2) to read:
(2)  The hospital, after undertaking its best efforts, has been unable to locate an 
available inpatient bed at a psychiatric hospital or other appropriate alternative; 
and
Sec. 5.  34-B MRSA §3863, sub-§3, ¶D, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 309, §3, is 
amended by amending subparagraph (3) to read:
(3)  The hospital has notified the department of the name of the person, the location 
of the person, the name of the appropriately designated individual who conducted 
the evaluation pursuant to subparagraph (1) and the time the person first presented 
to the hospital.; and
Sec. 6.  34-B MRSA §3863, sub-§3, ¶D, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 309, §3, is 
amended by enacting subparagraph (4) to read:
(4)  The hospital has provided to the department the documentation received under 
subsection 3-A for any psychiatric hospital that has declined a referral for 
admission of the person.
Sec. 7.  34-B MRSA §3863, sub-§3-A is enacted to read:
3-A.  Referral for admission declined by psychiatric hospital.  A psychiatric 
hospital that declines a referral for admission from a referring hospital under this section 
shall provide the referring hospital with a written explanation for declining the referral, 
including:
A. A detailed explanation of the specific reasons for declining to admit the person; and
B. A description of the specific circumstances or changes that would allow the 
psychiatric hospital to reconsider and accept the referral at a later time.
If the psychiatric hospital has previously declined admission for the person and 
subsequently admitted another person, the psychiatric hospital shall explain the decision to 
accept the subsequent person in preference over the previously declined person, keeping 
personally identifying information of each person confidential and focusing solely on the 
clinical or logistical criteria used to make the admission decision.
A psychiatric hospital shall make a written explanation under this subsection available, 
upon request, to the person who was declined admission.
Sec. 8.  34-B MRSA §3863, sub-§3-B is enacted to read:
3-B.  Daily data on available beds at psychiatric hospitals.  A psychiatric hospital, 
as defined in section 3801, subsection 7-B, shall submit the following data to the 
department at least once every 24 hours:
A. The name and address of the psychiatric hospital, including the location of all 
inpatient beds for which the psychiatric hospital controls admissions;
B. The total number of inpatient beds at the psychiatric hospital; and
C. The number of inpatient beds at the time of reporting that are occupied by a patient 
as defined in section 3801, subsection 7.
The department shall compile the data received under this subsection and present the data 
in a format that allows for easy identification of inpatient bed availability, sorted by 
psychiatric hospital, in real time on a publicly accessible website.
SUMMARY
This bill requires:
1. Psychiatric hospitals to provide detailed written explanations to referring hospitals 
for emergency admission denials that include specific reasons for the denial, circumstances 
under which the admission referral would be reconsidered and justification for prioritizing 
other admissions;
2. Psychiatric hospitals on a daily basis to report inpatient bed capacity, occupancy and 
locations to the Department of Health and Human Services, which is required to make the 
information available in real time on a publicly accessible website;
3. Psychiatric hospitals on a biennial basis to report information on inpatient bed 
capacity and occupancy, with the Department of Health and Human Services issuing a 
publicly accessible report on this information identifying statewide trends and utilization 
patterns regarding the use of inpatient beds; and
4. The Department of Health and Human Services to include in its biennial report 
identification of deficiencies contributing to denials of referrals for admission and 
recommendations for necessary resources to improve access to psychiatric hospitals.