PORTLAND, Maine — Maine is in need of more mental health resources and more mental health professionals to serve communities across the state.
Some help is on the way thanks to a $2 million gift from The Glickman Lauder Foundation to the University of New England. The money will fund a mental health nurse practitioner program. University officials said it's expected to launch in fall 2025.
“As we look at the region, there is a crisis in mental health care delivery," Associate Provost of Strategic Initiatives at UNE Karen Pardue said. “Behavioral health has become an emerging issue in an in-patient setting, in an out-patient setting, and certainly in the community.”
For 25 years, UNE has had more than a dozen health professional programs at its Portland campus. Dean of the Westbrook College of Health Professionals Jennifer Morton said this expanded mental health education "will be a signature program."
Both Martin and Pardue said Wednesday that UNE's clinical partners have told them they are frustrated because they can't serve individuals or families in crisis due to a lack of workforce. Some patients, they add, have to wait long periods of time before they can meet with a professional.
Students in this new graduate program will all be registered nurses, and Pardue said the goal is to keep them in Maine and practice in communities from Kittery to Fort Kent with hopes of training and retaining more mental health professionals.
The plan is to have at least 15 students enrolled in the program each year. At the same time, undergrad students will also receive more mental health education as part of their studies, so Pardue said, they know how to respond to patients struggling with their mental health in an effective way.
"And even when students are out on rotation, that’s another set of hands and eyes to help with the crisis that the providers are all feeling," Pardue said.
Morton added having all students learn more about mental health response will teach them how to work together, a skill, she said, that is critical after graduation.
“Having that teamwork available while you’re learning is only going to better prepare you for the workforce," Morton said.
Morton said there will be an online learning component to accommodate the nurses in the program who are also working in the community
UNE already has state-of-the-art simulation labs and other learning tools and will consult with mental health experts to make them appropriate for the program.
Students will be trained to work with individuals, families, and vulnerable populations such as refugees and those experiencing homelessness.
“The mental health crisis in our country far surpasses our capacity to provide meaningful care for those in need,” philanthropist Judy Glickman Lauder said in a news release. “Meeting these needs begins with investing in well-trained and compassionate healthcare professionals."