AOD March 20, 2024 - Maine Behavorial Healthcare Panel

Andy's Open Door Recording
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Guest: Maine Behavorial Healthcare Panel 

We got an up-close look into Maine Behavioral Healthcare in this week's Andy's Open Door "On the Road" program. Hosted at the Sherry Sabo Center in Biddeford, the program panelists included MBH President Kelly Barton, MBH Chief Medical Officer and MMC Dept. of Psychiatry Chair Linda Durst, MD and MBH Chief Operating Officer Maria Hadjiyane, PhD, LPC, CSAC, who shared the breadth of the MBH services and their impact in our communities.

Andy opened the program on a serious note, emphasizing how vigilant we must be in appropriately identifying each patient. He shared a specific recent incident where a MaineHealth patient was given the wrong medication: “We need to get it right every single time. It’s the most foundational and fundamental thing that we do. Take a moment to make sure the person in front of us is the person we think they are.”

The focus then turned to MBH, its care team and the services they provide across 34 locations, and MBH’s central role in achieving our vision. The panel discussion ranged from the access challenge and MBH’s multi-prong, multi-year approach to address it; certified community behavioral health clinics; the importance of partnerships at the state and federal level; and the journey toward Zero Suicide. Kelly introduced an inspirational video conveying the life-changing impact the MBH team has through the experience of one individual with substance use disorder.