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State hospital leaders report heavy reliance on contract nursing, expanded bonuses and an in‑progress regional hospital project
Summary
KDADS and state hospital officials told the committee about persistent vacancy rates, large contract‑nurse expenditures, incentives and plans for a new south‑central regional mental health hospital; they also described mobile competency work and county reimbursement programs.
Scott Bruner, deputy secretary for hospitals and facilities at KDADS, reported that the state hospitals have continued to rely on contract nursing to preserve bed capacity even as the department implemented pay and incentive changes intended to retain staff.
Bruner said the state has invested in base-pay increases and 24/7 facility incentives and that the department has used recruitment and retention tools including sign-on bonuses, referral bonuses and targeted shift pickup bonuses. He provided figures showing thousands of retention and sign-on payments across campuses and said pickup-shift bonuses — $100 for selected shifts — were intended to give staff flexible overtime options and reduce forced overtime.
On contract staffing, KDADS reported large expenditures in fiscal 2025: Larned State Hospital’s contract-nursing cost was presented as roughly $44.9 million for the fiscal year (approximately 232 contract nursing positions), and Osawatomie State Hospital’s contract-labor spend was presented at about $15.2 million (about 105 contract nursing positions). KDADS said it has capped contract nurse rates on state contracts and attempted conversions of some agency nurses to state staff where possible.
Bruner also outlined progress on a South Central Regional Mental Health Hospital (a 104‑bed project). The state budget has provided multi‑year construction funding; KDADS plans partial staffing budget entries in FY26 and full operational budgets in FY27 to reflect a planned January 2027 opening.
On the justice- and hospital-related operations side, Bruner described mobile competency initiatives and reimbursement programs: KDADS has supported pilot mobile competency evaluations and contracted with community mental health centers for competency work to reduce long waits for court‑ordered competency evaluations and restorations. The department also administers reimbursements under statutes that pay counties for days defendants wait for admission and payments that reimburse observation and transport costs for providers when patients are waiting for state hospital beds.
Ending: Committee members asked KDADS for additional breakdowns: line‑by‑line contract‑labor details, the county and hospital reimbursement totals by recipient, and evidence of how bonuses and pay changes have affected vacancy and turnover rates.
