OSAWATOMIE – A federal agency said it will cut off Medicare payments to overcrowded Osawatomie State Hospital unless major deficiencies are corrected in three weeks. The hospital receives about one-fifth of its budget from Medicare payments, the Kansas Health Institute News Service reported. Because of heavy state cutbacks to community mental health centers, the hospital has been over-crowded. The Kansas Health Institute reported that this week, the hospital had 221 patients, which is 15 above its 206-bed capacity. Kansas Dept. for Aging and Disability Services secretary Kari Bruffett told the Kansas Health Institute her agency was aware of the termination notice from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, but the state has until Dec. 8 to correct deficiencies has a plan to correct deficiencies at the hospital by the Dec. 8 deadline but declined to offer details on what that plan was. Bruffett said she is working with community partners, hospitals and behavioral health centers to find alternatives for osawatomie patients. State law allows the facility to bar voluntary admissions in order to keep numbers down, but that should be a last resort, she said. Osawatomie State Hospital is the largest of the state’s two in-patient facilities for adults with severe and persistent mental illnesses. Admissions represent emergency situations. Before they’re admitted, most of the hospital’s patients have been declared a danger to themselves or others.
Thursday, Nov. 20, 9 a.m.
