KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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In December 2024, the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit released a report citing safety and security concerns at Osawatomie State Hospital.
The state psychiatric hospital has a rich history in rural Miami County as a local economy driver.
KSHB 41 has reported on issues surrounding staff retention and the facility's physical security.
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Legislative auditors report issues around workplace culture, too.
"Someone has to care, and if it has to be me, then it has to be me," said Katie Jackson, a former mental health technician at Osawatomie State Hospital.
Jackson spent a decade caring for psychiatric patients and worked in the sexual predator unit, MiCo House.
"The people in there were the easiest to work with," Jackson said. "The actual mental health patients at Osawatomie were harder because you walk in there and they don't want to be there."
Jackson said the job can be dangerous as patients can take aggression out on staff. She's witnessed staff get severely beaten or left with broken bones.
What was just as dangerous, she said, was the workplace environment.
Legislative auditors reported hospital management is not adequately promoting a culture that prioritizes safety. Plus, there are no clear standards for environment and culture in regulation, statute, federal code or best practices.
Auditors reviewed small staff complaint samples reported to hospital management.
It was reported management did not take disciplinary action on several accounts, including when a supervisor failed to respond appropriately to misconduct reports that involved sexual harassment.
Auditors reviewed another case where a supervisor threw a welcome back party for an employee who was on leave for sexual harassment and was planning a similar party for another employee on leave for the same reason.
It was reported staff is not held accountable and may engage in favoritism.
"Definitely," Jackson said. "It's the culture that they've built out there. It is sad."
To look further into issues at Osawatomie State Hospital, KSHB 41 submitted a Kansas open records request to review the full audit.
Documents obtained by KSHB 41 revealed auditors reviewed all (209) human resources staff complaints investigated from 2022 to 2024, which involved staff misbehavior at work.
The top complaint concerns among auditors:
- Allegations coworkers created a hostile work environment (29, or 14%)
- Miscellaneous inappropriate workplace behavior, such as swearing or discussing inappropriate (but not necessarily sexual) topics (29, or 14%)
- Sexual harassment (16, or 8%)
- Inappropriate interactions with patients, ranging from giving them gifts to threatening them (14, or 7%)
- Performance issues, e.g. not doing security checks or responding to requests for help (14, or 7%)
The legislative audit reported additional findings when staff appeared drunk at work, staff were intoxicated while driving a patient in a work vehicle, and staff members visited other staff members for sexual favors, resulting in individuals sexually assaulting them.
Auditors said management took disciplinary actions in those cases but did not believe it was appropriate for them to address the issue.
Additional documents obtained by KSHB 41 found hospital management investigates complaints timely, but investigations often result in negative effects against complainants.
KSHB 41 News reporter Ryan Gamboa asked Jackson if she would fear losing her job if she filed a complaint.
"Definitely," Jackson responded.
Auditors reviewed 30 investigations but did not find sufficient evidence that management retaliated against complainants. However, it was found investigations resulted in negative consequences for complainants as opposed to accused staff.
Documents also revealed Osawatomie State Hospital didn't always provide enough documentation to demonstrate it thoroughly investigated allegations.
Auditors had problems evaluating management's disciplinary actions because the state hospital does not maintain a database on employee discipline and could not provide the documentation.
"When we would file complaints, they would go missing, or it would stop with the supervisors," Jackson said.
KSHB 41 sat down with Laura Howard, secretary for the Kansas Department for Disability and Aging Services, the agency overseeing operations at Osawatomie State Hospital.
"I think it starts at the top, in terms of leadership," Howard said.
Howard said the hospital's superintendent, Ashley Byram, comes from the ground level and can empathize with the patients in her previous experience at the hospital.
"I think [what] they've done very effectively is being present," she said. "They're not sitting off in the administration building. They're going to, you know, the patient. On a regular basis, I mean, they're being present themselves. That's both symbolic in the sense of what it says to the staff that leadership cares about what's going on in the units."
The secretary also mentioned how the hospital has meetings to discuss issues brought up by staff.
KSHB 41 asked Howard if she would be involved in the process, listening to staff needs.
"Superintendent Byram was clearly having those conversations. My Deputy Secretary Scott Bruner, who's deputy secretary of state hospitals, and my Commissioner Mike Dixon also are out of the hospital on a regular basis ... they tend to be on the ground more frequently than I do," she said.
In Byram's official response to the audit, she wrote, "Management prioritizes professional boundaries and encourages staff to speak up about safety risks or concerns."
She stated she's committed to creating greater staff engagement, encouraging the chain of command and human resources processes.
"We're doing those things, and we'll continue to to do those things as we ... continue to listen and learn [from] our staff and the community," Howard said.
Jackson no longer works at Osawatomie State Hospital. Instead, she pursued a career in nursing after obtaining her degree.
When looking back on her time working at the state hospital, she said the patients made it worth it.
"I didn't want to work there for their HR. I didn't want to work there for the politics," she said. "I truly believe in what they do."
The audit was requested by five Kansas legislators: Rep. Samantha Poetter Parshall (R- District 6), Sen. Caryn Tyson (R- District 12), Rep. Carrie Barth (R- District. 5), Rep. Fred Gardner (R- District 9) and former Sen. Molly Baumgardner (R- District 37).
Rep. Gardner was the only Kansas legislator willing to interview with KSHB 41.
Tyson told KSHB 41 that Osawatomie State Hospital is an important issue but did not have time.
KSHB 41 later reached out in an email seeking an interview and did not receive a response.
If you're a current or former employee at Osawatomie State Hospital, KSHB 41 News reporter Ryan Gamboa would like to hear your voice. To contact Ryan, send him an email at ryan.gamboa@kshb.com.
To review the entire KLPA audit at OSH, click here.
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