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State hospitals urge restoration of contract nursing funds as vacancies bite
Summary
Superintendents told the Committee on Social Services Budget that high vacancy rates and reliance on contract nurses are forcing requests for supplemental funding (roughly $32 million systemwide) and that, without it, some hospitals would have to cut bed capacity and relocate patients.
Superintendents and agency leaders told the Committee on Social Services Budget on Jan. 22 that state psychiatric hospitals are contending with high vacancy rates and heavy use of contract nursing, and asked lawmakers to consider restoring supplemental funds to avoid cuts to bed capacity.
Agency deputy secretary Scott Bruner and Osawatomie State Hospital superintendent Ashley Byer described recruitment gains but said contract nursing remains essential. Byer said the hospital is licensed for 116 beds, admitted 196 patients in fiscal 2025 (average length of stay 139 days) and had a wait list that “wax[es] and wane[s],” reporting 43 individuals on the wait list the morning of the presentation. She told the committee that, after running the numbers, the hospital could operate only about 43 beds without the additional contract-nursing funds — requiring relocation of roughly 110 patients.
Shardae, the committee’s legislative staff presenter, summarized agency budget documents showing systemwide revised…
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