OSAWATOMIE — Federal regulators said they stopped Medicare payments to Osawatomie State Hospital this week because of security concerns. The regulators saw red flags after a hospital employee was raped by a patient in October, the Kansas Health Institute News Service reported. Inspectors from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cited a list of security lapses at the hospital and noted that the state seems unable to correct them, according to KHI. The federal regulators told the state they didn’t want to cut off Medicare payments to Osawatomie or force it to close because of the hospital’s role in the state mental health system. However, federal authorities changed their mind on funding last week and cut off payments for new patients this week. Hospital staffers say Osawatomie is severely understaffed and employees face difficult working conditions and are underpaid, making it difficult to recruit more employees. The Kansas Dept. for Aging and Disability Services said it will keep the hospital open but will pay all the costs to operate until it regains federal recertification. In the meantime, the state will continue to maintain a limit on the number of patients at the hospital.
Thursday, Dec. 24, 3 p.m.
