‘Fix the flaws’: Gov. Kelly calls for investigation of state mental hospital after escapes
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is calling for an expedited independent security review of Larned State Hospital, a psychiatric facility that treats criminal offenders, after two of its patients escaped within the past six months.
The Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services, which oversees the hospital, announced Tuesday an ongoing effort to find an external investigative firm. That review aims to comprehensively assess the problems with the hospital and “produce recommendations to improve security and keep Kansans safe,” Kelly said.
“This administration is taking action to identify and fix the flaws that allowed two dangerous residents to escape from a state-operated facility, to ensure that it does not happen again,” Kelly said in a statement.
The latest escapee was Isaac Watts, a 43-year-old southwestern Kansas man facing charges of attempted murder, domestic violence and kidnapping. Video surveillance showed Watts walking out of the facility around 9 p.m. Monday, authorities say. He was wearing a state-issued jean jacket at the time.
Watts was arrested alongside a female accomplice Tuesday in a Garden City hotel room after authorities there were notified of his escape earlier that morning.
On June 30, John Freeman Colt, a convicted sex offender, escaped from Larned, where he was a patient in the Sexual Predator Treatment Program. Initial reports from authorities indicated Colt had flashed a fake security badge at a checkpoint.
The Pawnee County Sheriff’s Department opened a criminal investigation that found employees of the facility had assisted with the escape. Three ex-Larned workers have since been criminally charged related to that case. Colt was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals in late September.
News of the external review comes as Kansas law enforcement officials have raised past concerns about security and patient care in Larned. Fifty-nine sheriffs from across Kansas sent an open letter to Gov. Kelly in October saying the operations and management of the hospital had reached “ a crisis level.”
“Over the last several years, the leadership has created a culture that has become a quagmire of red tape and bureaucracy. This places the public at risk and obstructs law enforcement,” the letter said.
Meanwhile, The Star reported in November that Larned and other Kansas-run hospitals, including Osawatomie, were experiencing workforce challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the hospitals have long struggled to keep jobs filled, a condition blamed by some on their remote locations and the level of compensation employees receive.
In November 38% of direct-care staff positions, workers directly involved in a patient’s treatment, were unfilled at Larned. That followed a 45.4% vacancy rate from the end of September.
The Star’s Katie Bernard contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 6:56 PM.
