Topeka ? Kansas has picked a new leader for a state mental hospital that has been beset with staffing problems.

The Department on Aging and Disability Services announced Tuesday that Bill Rein has been named to the superintendent’s job at the Larned facility in western Kansas.

Rein previously served as the agency’s chief counsel and most recently has been its commissioner of behavioral health services, a position which includes oversight of hospital operations.

Interim KDADS Secretary Timothy Keck said in a news release that the state would be “hard-pressed to find anyone more qualified to take the reins on a permanent basis.”

The Larned hospital’s last permanent superintendent, Tom Kinlen, resigned in March. Since then, Rein and subsequently an Oklahoma City-area hospital management consultant have filled in as interim hospital leaders.