BANGOR – A new chief executive officer has been named to lead The Acadia Hospital, officials at the hospital’s corporate parent Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems announced Tuesday.

David Proffitt, who has served for the past four years as superintendent of the state’s Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta, will assume leadership of the private, nonprofit Acadia Hospital at the end of October, taking over for retiring president and CEO Dottie Hill.

Hill has been with Acadia Hospital since it opened in 1992 and has served in her current position for nearly eight years. She plans to retire in September.

EMHS President and CEO Michelle Hood said Tuesday the national search for Hill’s replacement began about three months ago. Out of “15 or 20” applicants screened, she said, Proffitt was selected for his commitment to the mental health services field and his experience with MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program for low-income individuals.

Proffitt’s understanding of MaineCare and the Department of Health and Human Services will be an important asset for him at The Acadia Hospital, Hood said, where the majority of patients are covered by MaineCare.

Before coming to Maine, Proffitt served as director of outpatient services at the publicly funded Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Service.

Proffitt will come on board as Acadia completes plans for a bricks-and-mortar addition to house an expanded program of outpatient services for children with mental illness. He also will be charged with working with medical care providers in the EMHS system to improve integration of mental health services into primary health care settings, Hood said.

In a prepared statement issued Tuesday, Proffitt said he was proud to have been selected to fill the position at Acadia.

“Opportunities such as this one, to learn and grow with an organization such as Acadia and EMHS, are rare indeed,” he said. He plans to relocate to the Bangor area, according to the press release.

Proffitt’s departure from the state-run Riverview Psychiatric Center, which replaced the 164-year-old Augusta Mental Health Institute in 2004, leaves a vacancy within the DHHS.

Commissioner Brenda Harvey could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, but in a statement to staff last week, she called Proffitt “a strong leader and a champion for people with mental illness.”

A spokesman for the department said Tuesday that an acting director will be appointed to fill the superintendent’s position at Riverview Psychiatric Center until a permanent replacement is named.

mhaskell@bangordailynews.net

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