State officials in charge of upgrading Osawatomie State Hospital must not be getting the message.

More than a year after being notified that deficiencies at the hospital threatened to make it ineligible to receive Medicare reimbursements, the hospital has failed to make the grade. On Monday, federal Medicare funding was cut off for all new patients admitted to Osawatomie because of noncompliance with federal regulations. Officials with the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services said the hospital immediately would seek Medicare recertification, but, until that occurs, the state will be responsible for the cost of caring for any new patients admitted to the hospital.

Osawatomie was determined to be non-compliant during a Nov. 3 survey by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That survey came soon after a reported sexual assault of a staff member on Oct. 27. Inspectors cited multiple problems with security, including insufficient nursing staff and inadequate supervision in areas where patients at risk of suicide could be in danger.

Federal inspectors visited the hospital again on Dec. 15 and last Friday and apparently found any corrections that had been made were inadequate. The official legal notification said that the hospital didn’t comply with the part of the Social Security Act “which requires a hospital to provide services which are sufficient to meet the needs of its patients.

Angela de Rocha, a spokeswoman for KDADS, expanded on that description, saying, “The survey revealed a condition or circumstances that would put someone’s life or well-being in jeopardy.” The hospital had been working to correct violations at the hospital, de Rocha said, but, “It’s fairly safe to assume that they decided that our implementation of the plan of correction did not meet their standards.”

And why is that? Has the state not had enough time to deal with the deficiencies discovered at Osawatomie, one of just two state hospitals that treat people whose mental condition makes them a threat to themselves or others? Federal inspectors who visited Osawatomie in October 2014 cited severe overcrowding that jeopardized patient care. In January 2015, inspectors found problems with the hospital’s suicide prevention plans. Both times the hospital was threatened with, but managed to avoid, loss of Medicare funds by showing it was making progress toward correcting the deficiencies.

“Obviously, we need to up our game,” de Rocha was quoted as saying last December.

A year later, the state apparently has been unable to accomplish that goal.

Whether the state’s inability to resolve these issues is a matter of insufficient funding or incompetent management, it is totally unacceptable for the state and the people who depend on in-patient mental health services, which are in diminishing supply in Kansas. This is a health and safety issue for the state. Perhaps the loss of Medicaid reimbursement will finally force state officials to give these problems the attention they deserve.