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Osawatomie State Hospital unit passes federal inspection

OSAWATOMIE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials say a state mental hospital that has suffered from years of neglect and staffing shortages has passed an inspection, moving it closer to being able to receive federal reimbursements.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services secretary Tim Keck said the agency has been “waiting for this for a long time.” The federal inspection involved a 60-bed unit within Osawatomie State Hospital.

The 146-bed hospital was decertified in December 2015 after a series of inspections that uncovered numerous safety, staffing and patient-care issues, including a patient raping a hospital worker.

The decertification made the hospital ineligible to receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements, costing the state about $1 million monthly. The hospital must undergo at least one more inspection before it can be recertified.

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