Construction on the new state-run psychiatric hospital near Meridian and MacArthur was already well underway Wednesday as local officials and others celebrated a step toward providing more beds for mental health treatment.
“Hospitals have been at capacity,” Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “Law enforcement and correctional officers, along with our emergency room staff, were faced to manage mental health crises that those systems were never designed to handle. This new hospital is part of the solution to these problems.”
The 104-bed facility at MacArthur and Meridian will serve both patients who are court ordered to receive treatment and people charged with crimes who need to be evaluated for competency to stand trial. The state expects construction on the hospital to be done by October 2026…