By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
It was a busy week at the new location of the children's psychiatric hospital in Hays, 3000 New Way Blvd.
The building in south Hays, which also houses HaysMed Business Center, is under renovation and scheduled to open in January 2023. It's part of a new partnership with the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS).
On Tuesday, the hospital announced a name change from KVC Hospital to Camber Children’s Mental Health to more accurately reflect its comprehensive program of care for youth ages 6-18.
On Wednesday, area legislators, representatives of HaysMed and High Plains Mental Health Center, and KDADS employees were among those touring the facility as construction workers scurried about.
Last Friday, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly was shown around in a private tour.
The former KVC Hospital in the Hadley Center, 205 E. 7th, housed acute patients from 2010 to 2019 following the closure of the children’s hospital at Larned State Hospital. KVC cited CMS' (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) licensure as a reason they closed the acute beds in Hays. CMS required KVC to have acute patients and residential patients in separate spaces. The new facility will allow that.
All the current psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) services at the Hadley Center will relocate to the bigger facility.
With 18 PTRF beds and 14 new acute beds, Bobby Eklof, Camber president, estimates an additional 600 children can be served each year.
"We want it to be safe for children," Eklof said, "but you also want it to be kid-friendly, and make sure that we're addressing their behavioral health needs."
Making the facility especially kid-friendly is a secure outdoor play area, something that has not been possible in Hadley Center.
Inpatient hospitalization has still been available at similar Camber facilities in Wichita and Kansas City, but they are many hours away from western Kansas and the beds are almost always filled.
Rep. Barb Wasinger, R-Hays, was part of the group tour Wednesday along with other state and local leaders.
"It's a huge advantage, a huge advantage," she said of the local hospital.
Wasinger said she's had concerned parents calling her needing help for their kids.
"When you talk to people who have children in need of these facilities, they couldn't get their kids into Wichita or Kansas City. Even if they could get them there, they had long waiting lists.
"Having them this close, for people in western Kansas, makes it that much easier to keep an eye on your child and making sure they're improving and getting the help that they need.
"So this is crucial to the healthcare within this community and I'm so grateful that it's getting done."
Wasinger praised Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, who was also on the tour, for his role as chairman of the Senate Ways and Means committee in getting the acute care beds back in Hays.
"The funding is there," Billinger said. "Three years ago we allocated four million dollars to get this facility back open in Hays."
The state has made major investments in the facility, according to Gov. Kelly, who has a longtime interest in children's mental health.
Before she entered politics, Kelly was a recreation therapist at Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center in New York. She eventually headed the department, working there for about seven years.
"This fills a gap that has existed here where there really hasn't been any place for a kid experiencing a psychiatric episode of some sort. This way they can come here and get treatment and maybe not have to go to Larned, Osawatomie, Wichita, into a psychiatric facility."
"I have a warm spot in my heart for kids with mental health issues," she said during her tour last week.
The new hospital will be "incredibly important" not only to its young clients and their families, "but to this whole region economically," Kelly said.
"If you have good services close to home, you're going to keep more productive citizens here in the region and be able to fill those jobs you've got."
The building will have state-of-the-art technology including motion sensors and cameras in addition to 24/7 direct supervision.
Some additional staff will be hired, including a psychiatrist. Most of that staff will be specialized positions in nursing as well as clinicians for the acute program.