Takeaways: For generations, the job of talking somebody down from a psychotic episode in Wichita usually fell to whatever police officers fielded the call for help. That meant somebody with a gun and handcuffs was sent to deal with everything from a depressive episode to erratic behavior to paranoid delusions. Last year, city and county […]
COMCARE
Posted inHealth, Local Government
Wichita is getting a new psychiatric hospital amid fears it’ll be too small
Kansas sits on the verge of building its first new state mental hospital in more than a century, even as officials acknowledge the original plans may not meet the region’s needs. The $40 million 50-bed facility planned for a spot at Meridian Avenue and MacArthur Road in southwest Wichita is planned for completion in 2026 […]
Posted inLocal Government, Watchdog
A few steps forward, a few steps back: Update on the Cedric Lofton task force recommendations
One notable change is Sedgwick County has launched a pilot program embedding mental health workers among the 911 emergency response team. On the opposite side, Sedgwick County has decided to not include “Stand Your Ground” law reform in its legislative agenda.
Posted inHealth, Local Government
‘Much more death now than there was’: How fentanyl changed opioid addiction treatment in Wichita
The risk of an overdose is high while patients wait for addiction treatment. Specialists want more resources and fewer obstacles to harm-reduction measures.
Posted inHealth, Local Government
Who do you call in a mental health crisis? Hotlines and hospitals to know in Sedgwick County.
Editor’s note: We updated this story on Feb. 23 to include the Mental Health Association of South Central Kansas. Sedgwick County is in the midst of a communitywide conversation around mental health, law enforcement and juvenile justice in the wake of Cedric Lofton’s death. One question has been recurring: whom to call in a mental […]
Posted inLocal Government
‘It wasn’t professional’: Leadership the No. 1 reason employees left Sedgwick County, survey finds
When Andrew Benson was promoted to a supervisor position at Sedgwick County Emergency Communications in 2017, it wasn’t a position he expected to leave after just two years. “I thought it could be a real career path for me,” Benson said. “Where I was doing good in the world.” As his colleagues took 911 calls […]
Posted inLocal Government
What a long-awaited expansion to the community crisis center would mean for Sedgwick County
For all 22 years of his life, Vicente Granados knew exactly what he wanted to be: a bullfighter. Even in grade school, he dressed up as a rodeo clown for the wax museum assignment, said his sister Esther Granados. That’s how she remembers him best — the passionate bullfighter, the committed brother nicknamed “Boy.” […]