Staffing shortfalls shrink capacity at Wyoming State Hospital and other state facilities, officials say

Staffing shortages at state-run behavioral health and long-term care facilities have reduced the number of staffed beds and increased the state's reliance on expensive contract labor, Wyoming Department of Health officials told the Mental Health & Vulnerable Adult Task Force on June 30.

"Our current census is is 80," Stefan Johansen, director for the Wyoming Department of Health, said of the Wyoming State Hospital, adding the facility is built for 104 beds but the staffed capacity is about 80. The hospital's biennial operating budget, he said, is "around $91,000,000." Johansen said the department has about 1,400 authorized positions and that most are field-based in facilities or public-health offices.

That shortfall has two concrete effects, Johansen told the task force: fewer staffed beds to accept civil and forensic patients, and increased spending on contracted nurses and direct-care staff to maintain operations. Johansen said the department is "projecting to spend, just under $17,000,000 in contract labor." He and other presenters tied those staffing gaps to longer waits for court-ordered forensic…