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Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center defends integrated model, warns Ashley Clinic services could end without FQHC designation
Summary
Nathan Fossen of Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center told the House Committee on Health and Human Services that KDADS has asked the center to stop billing CCBHC prospective payments for certain primary care services at Ashley Clinic and instead bill fee-for-service. He said the center is pursuing an FQHC look‑alike designation and warned primary care services may be discontinued if federal designation or another funding path is not secured.
Nathan Fossen, chief executive officer of Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center, told the Committee on House Health and Human Services that his organization has expanded into integrated, whole‑person care across six rural counties and that recent state guidance has jeopardized the center’s ability to fund primary care services at its Ashley Clinic.
Fossen outlined the center’s growth: more than 65 years serving Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Linn, Neosho and Woodson counties; a 6‑county service area of roughly 3,400 square miles and about 63,000 residents; nearly 25,000 individuals served in 2025; provisional CCBHC certification in 2022 and full certification in January 2024. He said the CCBHC model expanded services to include 24/7 crisis care, outpatient psychiatry, substance‑abuse treatment and integrated primary care screening and monitoring.
The center acquired Ashley Clinic in February 2023 and Yates Center Dental in…
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