AUGUSTA – A partnership between the Augusta Mental Health Institute and Dartmouth Medical School, which was announced earlier this week by Gov. Angus King, will begin modestly, King’s mental health commissioner said.

But as it develops, the partnership could make the state mental hospital in Augusta a teaching hospital, where psychiatrists and other mental health professionals are trained.

“I’m not sure when [psychiatric] residency programs will begin, or when AMHI will actually become a teaching hospital … [but] it’s a relationship that has lots of opportunities,” said Commissioner Lynn Duby of Maine’s Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services.

King announced the partnership between AMHI and the Lebanon, N.H., medical school in his State of the State speech Tuesday night.

In the initial phases, AMHI will gain electronic access to the Dartmouth Medical School’s library, obtain assistance in recruiting professional staff and consult with it on new treatment methods and related matters.

Duby said plans call for Dartmouth to take on the role of supervisor of psychiatry at AMHI. Dartmouth has a similar relationship with the state psychiatric hospital in New Hampshire.

The AMHI contract runs through June 30, 2003, with the option for two-year renewals. The cost can be covered without increasing her department’s budget, Duby said.

Dr. Peter Silverfarb, chairman of the psychiatry department at Dartmouth, said the medical school is known for its research on improving the quality of life for people with serious mental illness.

Maine has moved toward a community-based treatment system as institutional care for the mentally ill has been drastically scaled back in recent years.

King also said in his State of the State speech Maine is moving close to ending more than a decade of court supervision of the Augusta hospital.

The state has been trying to reduce the number of patients at AMHI and develop a comprehensive, individualized, community-based system of mental health care.

Duby said she believes the state has fulfilled the courts’ requirements.

A conference is scheduled for Friday with Superior Court Chief Justice Janet Mills, who will determine whether the state has complied with the consent decree covering 3,400 current and former AMHI patients.

Advocates for the mentally ill also will attend the conference.