Abby Bedard is comforted by her father, Mike, at Redington Fairview General Hospital, where Abby has been staying for more than 200 days. Abby has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and struggles with self-harm, suicidal ideation and other emotional/mental health issues. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
SKOWHEGAN — Abby Bedard sat in her wheelchair in her tiny, sparse room in the emergency department at Redington-Fairview General Hospital. Her bed is a twin mattress on the floor. A chart on a marker board details the hospital’s plan for her each day.
The 13-year-old doesn’t want to be here. Her parents don’t want her here, either. Neither do hospital officials. Or the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
Nevertheless, Abby has been living at the hospital’s ER for more than 220 days, spending Christmas, Easter, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and every day in between on the hospital’s grounds.
She has cerebral palsy, gets seizures from …