KDADS officials tell committee contract nursing drove $59M in state hospital costs in 2024; bonuses and hiring strategies aim to curb use

Scott Bruner, deputy secretary for hospitals and facilities at the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, told the Senate Ways and Means briefing that contract nursing has driven substantial costs at the state's two primary psychiatric hospitals and described recruitment, retention and policy steps KDADS has taken to reduce reliance on agency staff.

Bruner said Larned State Hospital spent $41.3 million on contract staffing in fiscal 2024 and Osawatomie State Hospital spent about $17.9 million, for a combined total in the neighborhood of $59.2 million. "We've been coming to the governor and the budget process and really asking for just-in-time funding to fund what our need is for the current fiscal year," Bruner said. He and legislative staff said the governor included enhancement requests in her budget and the House Appropriations Committee has partially funded those requests.

Dayton Lemunyan, senior fiscal analyst with Kansas Legislative Research, summarized the House committee recommendations: Larned requested $32.7 million for contract staffing in FY2025 and the House recommended $30.0 million for FY2025 and added proviso language to prohibit contract staffing at Larned beginning in FY2027; Osawatomie requested about $16.0…