Mental health groups concerned about Osawatomie State Hospital issues

It was a rough end of the year for Osawatomie State Hospital, which has been cut off from Medicare funding by federal authorities.

Mental health advocates say they are concerned by reports of the state-run mental hospital’s “systemic failure” to protect patients and staff members.

Federal reports released last week showed the hospital botched its security procedures the night an employee was raped by a patient. And hospital staff members failed to protect patients from harming each other or themselves on a consistent basis.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services is urging the state aging and disability department to fix safety issues that violate federal law if the facility wants to receive Medicare funding again. Such funding for new patients was cut off on Dec. 21, meaning those costs shift to the state.

Aging and disability services representatives have said the hospital is still accepting patients and will work to resolve the safety concerns.

“So much of this bad news just seems to blur together,” said Kyle Kessler, executive director of the Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas.

Sedgwick County sends residents who are at risk of harming themselves or others to Osawatomie for involuntary admission.

Comcare, the county-run mental health department, is responsible for the patients it decides to send to Osawatomie, said Comcare’s executive director, Marilyn Cook.

“Well, I don’t know what options we have,” Cook said about the safety concerns. “If they need that level of care and there’s no other option, what do we do?

“You have to hope and pray that they are making the changes that CMS is insisting that they make to make that place safe,” Cook said.

Some of the safety risks, such as fixtures in the ceiling that could allow suicidal patients to hang themselves, prompted renovations that have limited bed space in the hospital. That created a mental health waiting list throughout southern and eastern Kansas. The waiting list in Sedgwick County can range from a handful of people to almost two dozen.

“Because of the reduced number of beds, we have people waiting who have been determined to need a higher level of care,” Cook said. “Some of them have a history of current or past aggressive behavior. And some of them get increasingly agitated waiting. There are consequences to the people who are waiting.”

Kessler said the demand for state hospital beds can increase during this time of year.

“We’re always concerned about higher risk factors during the holidays,” Kessler said. “The risk factors for severe mental illness go up.”

Advocates say problems at the hospital are a brewing crisis caused by funding and staffing issues.

“Issues with Osawatomie and Larned are kind of waiting to happen,” said Rick Cagan, executive director of the state chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “I mean, we’ve been neglecting our mental health system, particularly our state hospitals, for some time.

“You have morale issues, you have openings, you have staff running double shifts,” Cagan said. “The quality of care suffers.”

Cagan said it’s important for state officials to address more than the individual incidents moving forward.

“It’s correct to look at these as systemic issues and not to treat them on an isolated basis.”

Aging and disability services representatives have said the hospital is still accepting patients and will work to resolve the safety concerns. Outgoing Secretary Kari Bruffett said earlier this week that a public-private partnership might be a longer-term solution.

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Mental health groups concerned about Osawatomie State Hospital issues."