[3] From 1946 to 1962, Dr. Francis Harper Sleeper (1900-1983) served as the superintendent, and his name lent itself to the Sleeper Era, a period of several changes to services, including "unitary control" of nursing, hiring of an additional psychologist and interns, hiring of a pharmacist and a dentist, and creation of a library with a librarian.

"[3] In the 1960s, a new superintendent, Dr. John C. Patterson, mandated discharge of patients to support their rights (as opposed to leaves of absence), which raised admissions, yet, "the population began to drop because of use of new medications.

[3] In 2004, a new "92-bed civil and forensic psychiatric treatment facility" was built to replace the now-old state hospital.

The center also has recently put many forensic patients in nearby Augusta group homes, resulting in a petition with 150 signatures calling for their closure by neighbors with safety concerns.

Despite the appeal by the Department, Governor Paul LePage has expressed criticism of attempts to regain accreditation, once stating that "With the federal money, some of the fine print is so atrocious that sometimes we do more harm than good", though he later backed away from those comments, calling the loss of accreditation "shameful" and "disgusting".

The crisis stabilization unit is in effect an emergency room for psychiatry, frequently dealing with suicidal, violent, or otherwise critical individuals.