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Larned hospital and predator-treatment units face long competency waits and high per-patient costs
Summary
Deputy agency testimony to the subcommittee showed long waits for competency restoration and raised concerns about the state predator treatment program (SPTP) costs — deputy staff estimated roughly $200,000 per SPTP patient annually and called for deeper review.
Larned State Hospital officials told the Human Services Subcommittee the facility is serving higher-acuity patients, operating below licensed capacity due to staffing and that the state security/competency program has a substantial wait list. Agency testimony said the state security program is budgeted for 140 beds with a current capacity of about 100; a 30-bed unit is vacant and could be re-opened with funding.
The agency gave specific wait-list figures: in December 2025 there were 183 males and 25 females waiting for admission to the competency program; average waits reported were roughly 300 days for males and 121 days for females. Deputy Secretary Scott Bruner said the competency unit reopening request included $1,100,000 to add 30 beds if staff can be found. Larned requested $32.2 million in contract-staffing funding for FY26 and the same amount for FY27 to cover agency nursing and direct-care gaps.
Committee members probed the broader state predator treatment program (SPTP). The chair asked whether the program is accomplishing its goals and sought an estimate of per-resident costs. A deputy on the panel said a rough operating cost would be about $200,000 per resident annually, compared with an estimate of roughly $60,000 per year for housing the same person in the Kansas Department of Corrections — a difference committee members said merits a programmatic review.
Officials described clinical pressures: an average of 33 patients per day required one-on-one monitoring in 2025 (assigned to direct care staff rather than RNs) and some patients require two-for-one monitoring; these needs materially raise staffing requirements and costs. Bruner and facility superintendents told the committee they are recruiting RNs, LPNs and MHDD technicians, raising pay for certain roles and using sign-on and referral bonuses to reduce vacancies, but that progress is uneven across campuses.
Committee members requested consolidated cost and census materials for the SPTP (across Larned, Parsons and Osawatomie reintegration sites) and signaled intent to pursue a deeper review of whether outcomes justify the program’s per-capita expense.
