Kansas Governor Sam Brownback wants Tim Keck to continue running the agency that oversees the state’s aging and disability services. As Heartland Health Monitor’s Jim McLean reports, Keck has had his hands full since taking the job on an interim basis in January.
Problems at the state’s two mental health hospitals have demanded Keck’s attention since the moment he took the reins at the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services.
Staffing and security issues at the Osawatomie State Hospital, including the alleged rape of a worker by a patient, led federal officials to decertify the facility in December. That has cost the state about $1 million a month in federal funds.
Keck recently told a legislative committee that about a third of the hospital’s more than 200 beds will be ready for re-certification at the end of the month. Getting that done would restore about half the lost federal funding.