Private company could rebuild, run Kansas mental health hospital
Wichita EagleAug 16, 2017
The agency that oversees the hospital on Tuesday rolled out a proposal from Correct Care Recovery Solutions, a company that runs health facilities nationwide, to build a new hospital at the current location and take over operations. The company is a division of
The
The agency is barred by law from privatizing the hospital without legislative approval. KDADS Secretary
"We have an opportunity going forward to create a new
"We have the moment and the chance and the time to do that and we need to take that opportunity."
Lawmakers who attended were skeptical. Sen.
"I'm still on the hesitant side. Very hesitant," Tyson said.
Lawmakers would have to determine whether to finance the new hospital through a lease-purchase agreement or by using bonds to borrow money. In a lease-purchase, a private company would lease the hospital back to the state for a number of years until the state purchases it at the end of the lease.
Senate Majority Leader
"The state needs to have total control of the building should it need it," he said.
Correct Care Recovery Solutions is the only company KDADS is considering to rebuild and run the hospital. Keck said another company sent in a proposal after the deadline.
The company plans to retain all current employees at the hospital if they can pass a background check and a drug test and meet the minimum qualifications for employment, which all current workers do.
The company has come under scrutiny in
Keck said he toured five Correct Care facilities this spring and was impressed.
"When we visited their facilities, they were very well-run. Staff was happy, patients seemed happy," Keck said.
The hospital has 206 beds, but it has been limiting its patient population to 146 for months because of issues raised by past federal surveys. Concepts for a new hospital on display on Tuesday would increase the total beds to about 260.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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