Mental health waiting list in Sedgwick County after Osawatomie caps patients

The state has restricted the number of admissions at Osawatomie State Hospital, creating a waiting list for mental health patients in Sedgwick County.

Safety concerns from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have prompted renovations that limit bed space in the state-run mental hospital in eastern Kansas.

The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services has the authority to declare a moratorium on admissions to state psychiatric hospitals, which it did with Osawatomie last week.

“They started a waiting list and only accept new admissions once someone is discharged,” said Jason Scheck, director of outpatient services with Comcare, Sedgwick County’s mental health department.

Scheck said Thursday that three patients had been placed on the waiting list since the moratorium was announced. However, he said the weekends are more of a concern for Comcare.

“In a typical weekend, I’d estimate we sent two to four involuntary admissions to (Osawatomie),” he said.

Sedgwick County does not send voluntary patients to Osawatomie. Osawatomie will not admit patients who request to be there voluntarily unless there is no one on the waiting list and the number of patients drops below 131.

“We have to make sure the very sickest individuals are the ones that make it to the state hospital,” said Marilyn Cook, Comcare’s executive director.

The number of patients at the hospital is now capped at 146, down from the 206 patients it is licensed to serve.

“This is a really delicate balance,” Cook told the Comcare advisory board on Thursday.

Scheck said Comcare admissions to state hospitals are down this year because of temporary Community Crisis Center services that keep patients in the county.

Via Christi can also accept some patients when neither Comcare nor Osawatomie have room.

“There are really people that need that state hospital level of care,” Cook said.

This story was originally published June 26, 2015 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Mental health waiting list in Sedgwick County after Osawatomie caps patients."