FORT KENT – The only psychiatric unit for children and adolescents north of Bangor officially opened its doors Monday at Northern Maine Medical Center.

The open house and tours gave the public an opportunity to visit the seven-bed facility and meet the staff of 20 doctors, nurses and social workers responsible for its operation.

“Living in northern Maine presents its own unique challenges,” Martin Bernstein, NMMC chief executive officer, said. “This unit is proof positive of what can happen when the community and our partners work together.”

Until this week – when unit staff anticipate registering the first patients – children and adolescents from northern Maine needing psychiatric care have been forced to travel south to other parts of the state or out of the state all together.

“There is a tremendous need here in northern Maine,” Bernstein said. “There are a lot of Aroostook County children having to go out of state to get care.”

Despite the fact that a recent report from the U.S. surgeon general cites one in five children nationwide suffer from some form of mental illness, less than 7 percent of the country’s mental health budget is directed toward that population, according to Dr. Tolga Taneli, unit psychiatrist.”Mental health problems among children is something that is under-recognized and undertreated,” Taneli, unit psychiatrist, said.

Despite its lack of attention, mental health among young children is a huge issue, Sabra Burdick, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, said.

“It is imperative to have units like this,” she said. “Our department treated 3,000 kids last year [and] up until now, we had to take the kids from Aroostook County south.”

The unit at NMMC brings to 100 the available beds for inpatient child and adolescent psychiatric treatment in the state.

In Aroostook County alone, 100 children were referred and admitted to facilities outside of the county, Alain Bois, the unit’s head nurse, said. “The need is really there,” he said.

So great is the need that talk already has started on expanding the unit.

Bernstein said the unit’s service area extends from the St. John Valley to Bangor with a population of 80,000.

It is a service, Bernstein said, that does not come cheaply. The unit is housed in an existing wing of NMMC where renovations and construction costs neared $700,000. The project was funded through low-interest loans through the USDA Rural Development Program and Key Bank.

While contractors were putting the final touches on the unit, staff members were busy participating in extensive hands-on training at child psychiatric units in Portland and Bangor.

“We have been working on this for a year and doing a lot of research,” Bois said. “Like any new job, we are looking forward to it, but with a little bit of nervousness.”

Bois’ staff – 10 registered nurses and four certified nurse’s aides – will put all their training to the test this week with the admission of the first patient, expected on Thursday.

“I feel ready,” registered nurse Patty Michaud said. “We have done a lot of good preparation and are all looking forward to the challenges.”

NMMC officials plan on easing into the new treatment area slowly.

“We plan on running at 50 percent capacity for the first several weeks to see how everything goes,” Bernstein said.

“This is all part of our developing a complete health care system for the St. John Valley,” he said.

Mental health issues among children and adolescents include depression, bipolar disorder, separation anxiety and schizophrenia, Taneli said.

“We hope to give them the internal resources to deal with these problems,” he said.

NMMC psychiatrists will work closely with social workers, occupational therapists and nursing staff to provide round-the-clock care for the young patients.

In addition, educators from SAD 27 will come into the unit two hours a day to conduct classes.

An important part of the treatment, Bois said, is parental and family involvement.

“We will work with parents and families on skills they need to help the child,” he said. “By having this unit in Aroostook County, they will be able to remain closer to their children while they are patients here.”

Everything was done in planning and decorating the unit with children’s mental health in mind, Bois said. Walls and furniture are in muted, calming colors and corners, and entryways have been rounded.

All doors and windows are of special construction with security and safety in mind.

“We’ve been working on this since the fall of 1999,” Peter Sirois, NMMC associate administrator and project director, said. “All of a sudden, we see all of our work coming to fruition, and it feels good.”

Close to 100 people took the opportunity to tour the facility, the first and only time its doors will be open to the public.

“This is going to add a huge dimension to caring for kids in Maine,” Burdick said. “It will really be a lifesaver in many ways.”