Two of the state’s three hospitals for the mentally ill are full and not accepting new referrals.

Welfare officials said Friday neither Osawatomie State Hospital nor Rainbow Health Facility in Kansas City could accept more patients without jeopardizing patient safety.

One reason for the situation, which leaves Lawrence mental health agencies with few places to hospitalize patients, is the dwindling number of community-based in-patient units. In May, for example, Lawrence Memorial Hospital shut down its 15-bed unit.

“Osawatomie (State Hospital) has a capacity of 176. It’s close to 190 now,” said Kyle Kessler, Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services spokesman.

Rainbow Mental Health Facility in Kansas City has a 50-bed capacity. “It’s at 53,” Kessler said.

SRS on Thursday notified the Kansas Supreme Court and judicial districts in the eastern half of the state that neither hospital would be accepting court-ordered referrals. The notice was released to the public Friday.

No more room

Generally, people are referred to a state hospital when their mental illness threatens their safety or the safety of others.

In Kansas, those residing in the eastern half of the state are sent to Rainbow or Osawatomie. Those in the western half go to Larned State Hospital.

“Basically, Osawatomie and Rainbow are full now — or they will be by this weekend,” Kessler said. “What we told the court was that if we take on any more, we’d be putting the patients’ safety in jeopardy. We don’t want to do that. Patient safety is first and foremost.”

Community programs few

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Larned State Hospital may be able to take a few referrals, Kessler said, but most will have to be handled by community mental health programs.

But few of the programs — including those in Lawrence — have in-patient units.

“We lost ours when Lawrence Memorial Hospital closed its last fall,” said David Johnson, executive director at Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center.

“About the same time, one of the hospitals in Overland Park closed its psychiatric unit as well,” Johnson said. “So the number of available beds is down at a time when demand appears to be up.”

Asked where Bert Nash planned to send court-ordered, in-patient referrals, Johnson said he wasn’t sure. “We’re scrambling,” he said.

The reasons for the increase are unclear.

“That’s under investigation,” Kessler said.

But Johnson said the state’s Medicaid rates for in-patient care are so low that few hospitals — such as LMH, for example — could afford to keep their psychiatric units open.

Demand rising

As the units have closed, he said, demand for remaining beds has increased, creating a shortage.

“The other thing that’s going on is we’re just seeing a lot more people with greater and greater needs,” Johnson said.

Two years ago, he said, Bert Nash’s rate of referrals to Osawatomie State Hospital was the “lowest number per capita” of any mental health center in the state.

“We’re double that now,” Johnson said. “We have 14 people at Osawatomie.”

Another cause, said Karen Ford Manza, executive director at National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-Kansas, may be due to state hospitals shortening patient stays rather than effectively treating patients’ illness.

“That’s not a long-term strategy for success,” Manza said, noting that admission data show that more than half the state’s inpatient referrals are “new to the system.”

Lawrence resident Liz Smith, whose relative has been in Osawatomie State Hospital in the past, called the news “devastating.”

“But I can’t say its terribly surprising,” Smith added. “The safety net has been falling apart for a long time. More and more, the burden of care has shifted to the state hospitals, and now they can’t keep up. I hope this results in some awareness and action on the part of the decision makers.”