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Lawrence resident alleges mistreatment at Bert Nash during Douglas County public comment
Summary
During public comment at the March 5 meeting, a Lawrence resident and candidate for Lawrence City Commission alleged past rights violations and called for accountability at Bert Nash; county commissioners did not take action during the meeting.
Eric B. Hyde, identified himself as a Lawrence resident and a candidate for the Lawrence City Commission, used the Douglas County public-comment period to raise complaints about Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center.
Hyde said he lives in ZIP code 66044 near the Polar Lofts and said he had sought accountability from the Lawrence Journal-World without success. He told commissioners he had been involuntarily committed in Feb. 2021 while running for city commission and said two Bert Nash officials had apologized to him in conversation.
"The chief operating officer of Bert Nash, Steven O'Neil, apologized to me for violating my religious rights," Hyde said. He also said the center's chief medical officer, identified in the comment as Dr. Dodson, had called him a racist; Hyde described those statements as part of his rationale for requesting accountability.
Hyde urged the commissioners to seek more oversight of the agency and said he believed stronger measures were needed, while acknowledging that "there's a lot of good people at Bert Nash." He did not present documentary evidence at the meeting and county staff did not respond to the allegations during the session.
The county's public-comment rules, read into the record at the start of the meeting, state that comments do not necessarily represent the views of Douglas County government and that staff will try to follow up on specific questions if contact information is provided.
No formal action, investigation or staff directive was recorded in the meeting minutes in response to Hyde's remarks.
