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TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services has opened an 11-bed unit at Larned State Hospital in an effort to lessen overcrowding at the state’s inpatient facilities for mentally ill adults.

“We’re staffing it with people who are working overtime,” said Ray Dalton, SRS deputy secretary of disability and behavioral health services.

Last week, SRS announced it had suspended voluntary admissions to the state hospitals because all three facilities were full beyond licensed capacities.

Though the 11-bed unit opened Friday, the suspension remained in effect Tuesday.

“What happened was, over the weekend, we had seven admissions at Larned, 15 at Osawatomie (State Hospital),” Dalton said. “That’s a lot, and these were all involuntary admissions.”

Dalton said the suspension on voluntary admissions will be lifted as soon as beds start freeing up at the hospitals.

“Unfortunately, we don’t know that’s going to be,” he said. “Soon, I hope.”

The three hospitals and their licensed capacities:

• Larned State Hospital – 76 beds.

• Osawatomie State Hospital – 176 beds.

• Rainbow Mental Health Facility, Kansas City – 50 beds.

Admissions under normal circumstance are limited to adults with serious and persistent mental illnesses who are considered a danger to themselves or others. Currently, the hospitals are only accepting people ordered into them by the courts or delivered under escort by police.

The 11-bed unit pulled into service at Larned had been part of a 30-bed children’s unit. Last year, the children's unit was converted to a 19-bed crisis-stabilization unit for adults, leaving the 11 beds vacant.

“The good thing in that we can open the 11 beds by supplementing existing staff,” Dalton said. “We don’t have to staff a whole new unit.”

Osawatomie State Hospital has a 30-bed unit that is unused because SRS can't afford to staff it.

Dalton said he’s given the Larned hospital the authority to begin hiring additional workers.

Using the 11 additional beds there, he said, is expected to cost an additional $375,000 in wages; $250,000 in overhead, "things like medications and food," Dalton said.

In recent years, SRS closed its 20-bed children’s units at Rainbow and at Larned, contracting, instead, with KVC Health Systems to provide the services in other locations.

KVC opened a 31-bed children's unit in Kansas City in 2007 and, earlier this month, a 24-bed children's facility in Hays.

Each was near capacity last week. But now there are several free beds at each location.

“We’re down to 18 (patients) now in Hays; 28 in Kansas City,” said Kyle Kessler, a spokesman for KVC.

Kessler said the jump in admissions was half-expected.

“Historically, I think, there tends to be an increase toward the end of school – in May – and again in November and December when the rigors of school tend to ramp back up again.”

He said he doubted the spike in admissions at the children’s facilities was related to the increase in adult admissions at the state hospitals.

Dalton said it’s unclear what’s causing that increase.

Advocates for the mentally ill plan to issue a press release Wednesday, calling attention to the state hospitals’ troubles. Their representatives are scheduled to meet with members of Gov. Mark Parkinson’s staff on Thursday.