Prairie View asks McPherson County for $252,000 in 2027 budget to expand crisis and school services

Prairie View asked McPherson County commissioners on June 8 for $252,000 in county support in the 2027 budget, a roughly 5% increase from last year’s county request of $201,000. Marcy Johnson (speaker 11), representing Prairie View, outlined service growth, workforce costs and program priorities during the board’s budget review session.

Johnson said Prairie View served 1,451 McPherson County patients (a 12% increase since starting Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic services in 2022) and provides services more broadly to about 30,912 patients across the region. She said Prairie View operates a 24/7 urgent-care unit that recorded 457 admissions and successfully kept 97% of those patients from requiring higher levels of care: "When you look at 97 percent of those 457 individuals, that would equate... to about $627,000 that Prairie View is able to divert from higher level care," Johnson said.

Johnson described staffing and budget pressures: Prairie View employs 39 staff in the county with combined salaries above $2.3 million and continues to experience a 10–15% vacancy rate. She detailed an unfunded initiative, AgAssist, which offers six free sessions of therapy, case management and medication management to farmers and ranchers, citing higher suicide risk among the agricultural population. Commissioners asked for additional details on Prairie View’s footprint in school districts and intercounty support; Johnson said the organization works in most area schools and requests for county funding will be considered during the commission’s budget process.

Commissioners thanked Prairie View for its services and said they will review the request as part of the county’s normal budget deliberations.