TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A moratorium on voluntary admissions at Osawatomie State Hospital will be lifted in January to provide more space for adults with long-term mental health issues.
The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services announced Thursday that the ban, which has been in place since 2015, will end as of Jan. 3.
The hospital, one of two state-run hospitals for the seriously mentally ill, stopped taking voluntary admissions after receiving citations for not doing enough to help suicidal patients and routinely housing three patients in rooms meant for two because of capacity issues.
The policy caused problems for other mental health providers, law enforcement and health care facilities who struggled to place people with serious mental health issues.
The department also has created a new classification for mental health providers called State Institutional Alternative, which allows private psychiatric facilities to accept mentally ill patients who have been approved for admission to state hospitals.
Currently, eight hospitals in the state are classified as SIAs, and they have cared for 122 adults and 291 youth since September.
The agency is also planning renovations on the Osawatomie campus that will eventually increase capacity to 72 certified beds and 110 licensed beds.