Three juveniles face felony assault charges

BANGOR Three juveniles are facing felony assault charges after an altercation at Acadia Hospital.

BANGOR Wayne Steller, PMHNP-BC has been named vice president and chief nursing officer for Acadia Hospital effective Sept. 18, 2013. He has served as interim chief nursing officer since June 16, 2013. In addition to his executive duties, Steller, a highly trained psychiatric nurse practitioner, will periodically continue to provide direct patient care services.

'We are extremely fortunate to have such a strong internal candidate for this important position,' said Daniel B. Coffey, Acadia president and CEO. 'Wayne has been at Acadia since it opened in 1992 and he has earned the appreciation of his patients and respect of his peers; he is an outstanding leader and has been doing a terrific job as interim CNO over the past three months.'

BANGOR - Does shopping have anything to do with your mental health? What about multitasking? Acadia Nurse Manager Eric McKeown believes it does, and is speaking at a presentation on May 23 to discuss this and other aspects of mental and emotional health. The Open Mind community education presentation will be held at Acadia Hospital as part of national mental health month. The event is free and open to the public. 

'It's a passion of mine, focusing and looking at how health and wellness intertwine,' McKeown said. One of those aspects is financial health. 

'One of the things we are going to be looking at is emotional shopping,' McKeown said, 'which is shopping to soothe emotional needs. We'll be looking at some of the consequences and stress that can come with that.' McKeown says that physical health will also be discussed.

BANGOR Nationally-recognized Tourette syndrome (TS) experts Dr. Jonathan Mink and Judy Peterson will be at The Acadia Hospital, Penobscot Room, on May 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. to give a free presentation for the general public on the subject of Tourette syndrome. They will speak respectively on current research into and treatment of TS, and educational and family issues affecting persons with TS.

For more information or to register for this free program, visit www.acadiahospital.org. Please call 973-6166 if you have any questions.

Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurological disorder whose symptoms significantly affect the lives of approximately 3 to 10 people out of every thousand. Children with TS tend to begin exhibiting symptoms during the early elementary school years, and boys are affected more often than girls.

Teenage depression and anxiety is the subject of a new movie that will premiere at the Gracie Theatre on Wednesday, March 21. The 35 minute film 'The Road Back' was largely created by a dedicated group of local teens and produced by The Acadia Hospital, Project Aware of Saco and Gum Spirits Productions of Portland.

Shot over five days last October at Hermon High School, the film is centered around Allie (Natalie Johnson, a senior at Hermon High School), who deals with depression, and Christian (Josh Devou, a junior at Hermon High School ), who suffers from anxiety. Over the course of the film, these two characters find themselves facing difficult challenges that are compounded by their conditions, but they are ultimately led to discover a way out through treatment.

BANGOR - New England School of Communications Junior Kiera Plante has been working hard this semester, and now her efforts are about to pay off. Plante's graphic design II class was tasked with creating posters for an upcoming short film Acadia Hospital put together, along with the help of Project Aware, about teen depression and anxiety. The film, entitled 'The Road Back,' is slated to be shown at Husson's Gracie Theatre next month. Last week, Plante was informed in front of her classmates and friends that her poster's depiction of the film will be the design Acadia uses to help promote the film.

"I wasn't expecting to win or even get my hopes up because we had done rough drafts and critiques in class, and they were all really well done," explained Plante.