Kansas state mental health hospitals reach 'crisis level' with low staffing, capacity

TOPEKA -- The brutal attack came when staff weren’t looking.

Dalton Bledsoe was a patient at one of Kansas’s three state-run mental health hospitals when, on Oct. 22, 2018, another patient began beating him. Word had gotten around that Bledsoe had been charged with crimes against children. He suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him unable to speak, according to a lawsuit his guardians later filed against the state.

At the time, one out of every five mental health technician positions at Larned State Hospital were unfilled, the lawsuit said. Those who were there sometimes worked 16-hour shifts.

Staff only learned of the assault when the attacker proudly left a room, declaring “I killed him,” the lawsuit alleged. Anthony Ruiz-Hernandez later pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder. Bledsoe was eventually treated in a Texas neuro-rehab center and discharged in 2019 with severe cognitive and linguistic deficiencies, according to his lawsuit.

In October, Gov. Laura Kelly and top lawmakers quietly approved a $500,000 settlement in the suit, brought against the agency that oversees the state hospitals, the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services. At the time of the attack, it was under the control of Gov. Jeff Colyer.

Read more: https://www.kansas.com/article255558251.html