Larned State Hospital has a wait time of one to two days. For Osawatomie State Hospital, it’s three to seven days.
Such were the matter-of-fact estimations of Heather Porter, chief clinical officer at Newton Medical Center. She has such estimates because, increasingly, Newton Medical Center functions as a makeshift mental ward, holding patients until a state bed comes open.
In the last three months, according to its own numbers, the hospital admitted 127 patients to the ER in need of mental or behavioral health care. Fifty-nine were discharged to home care. The rest went to mental institutions or other hospitals.
Porter said the hospital and its emergency room is holding behavioral health patients daily now.
“The challenge for the patient is holding them in an appropriate unit,” she said. “Our rooms are set up as an acute care unit. Those equipment make noises that can sometime agitate a patient. Acute care isn’t always the best setting for that.” Newton Dept. Police Chief Craig Dunlavy spoke about problems of violence that come with an increase in mental health care patients as he showed off a newly opened satellite police office in the hospital. He said that in the past year the department responded to the ER 50 times.
“Our nurses and doctors have to go from caregivers to combatants,” Dunlavy said to U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, who was present Sept. 20 touring the hospital.
During his tour of the hospital, Moran asked his tour guides if Osawatomie and Larned State Hospitals were keeping up with demand.
He was met with a short, involuntary laugh by Dunlavy.
“No. Absolutely not,” he said.
(Read more: Newton Now)