Month: March 2018

State asks to take over 15 nursing homes, including three in Edwardsville

Three nursing homes in Edwardsville, Kansas, are among 15 nursing homes listed that the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services has proposed taking over today.

KDADS has asked 13 district courts to allow the agency to take over the skilled nursing facilities after the operator of the facilities advised the state it will not be able to make an upcoming payroll, a KDADS news release stated today.

The state asked the courts to put the facilities in receivership while arrangements are made for them to continue to operate and to provide care for approximately 845 residents.

Edwardsville Care and Rehabilitation Center LLC, Kaw River Care and Rehabilitation Center LLC, and Parkway Care and Rehabilitation Center LLC, in Edwardsville, are among the 15 nursing homes listed.

“Our most pressing concern at this point is stability,” said Tim Keck, KDADS secretary, in a news release. “We want to ensure the residents of these facilities continue to receive the care they need, and to make sure the staff, which provides that care, continues to be paid.”

“This is a highly unusual situation, but we have identified a nursing home management group that is willing to step in immediately and begin overseeing these facilities,” Keck said. “We have discussed the matter with CMS and now are working to get all of the arrangements in place as soon as possible.”

The state is seeking receivership to take over management of the homes from Skyline Health Care, based in Wood Ridge, New Jersey, which acquired the Kansas facilities in 2016.

Staff from KDADS and the three managed care organizations that administer Medicaid in Kansas will meet with residents and their families next week to explain the changes.

Mission Health Care, which operates 14 nursing homes in Kansas as well as Tennessee, Georgia, Minnesota and Wisconsin, has agreed to step in and oversee the operation of the Kansas facilities, according to the KDADS news release.

Kansas to audit Schlitterbahn before park opens in May

by Scott Canon, Kansas News Service

Schlitterbahn, the amusement park under indictment over the 2016 death of a lawmaker’s son on its signature waterslide, now finds itself subject to a full state audit.

A spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Labor said Wednesday the audit is set to take place before the park’s scheduled opening for the summer season on May 25.

The park is required to have qualified inspectors check its rides each day and maintain a log of those reports. Spokeswoman Barbara Hersh said the department will make sure those inspections are carried out.

The department “has exercised its discretion … and will be conducting a full compliance audit under the Kansas Amusement Ride Act at Schlitterbahn before they reopen in May 2018,” Hersh said in an email. “Beyond that, we cannot comment on pending administrative matters.”

Caleb Schwab, the 10-year-old son of Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab, died on Aug. 7, 2016, when the raft he was riding down the Verruckt slide became airborne and struck was supposed to be a protective netting and hoop structure. He was killed instantly.

This month, a Wyandotte County grand jury indicted a park manager, a construction company and the two men who designed the 17-story ride. It was billed as the world’s tallest waterslide when it opened in 2014.

Schlitterbahn officials have settled civil suits with the Scwhab family and other people injured on the ride that day. The indictments contend that the park continued to operate the ride after several warning signs, including lesser injuries by multiple riders.

It also accused the designers, including Schlitterbahn co-owner John Wayne Henry, of relying on trial-and-error methods in a rushed design and construction of Verruckt and of disregarding industry standards.

Neither state law nor federal regulations were involved in the approval of the slide’s design. Rather, state inspectors had the power only to confirm that it was operated in accordance with the park’s own design.

A new Kansas law adopted last year after Caleb’s death sets standards for insurance, ride inspections and injury reports. It also demands yearly inspections for stationary rides like the Verrückt – which are regulated differently than traveling carnival midways. The checks are now carried out by inspectors paid by insurance companies, rather than by a ride’s owners.

After Caleb’s death, Schlitterbahn officials said they would tear down Verruckt. But it still towers along Interstate 435 while various inspectors collect evidence.

State law requires amusement parks to keep safety records, going back three years, available for audit. Those records include certificates showing the company’s inspectors are qualified, along with test results, operating manuals for rides, the manufacturer’s testing recommendations and inspection guidelines, and maintenance records.

The results of the audit will be a matter of public record.

Scott Canon is digital editor of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach him on Twitter @ScottCanon. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.

See more at http://kcur.org/post/kansas-audit-schlitterbahn-troubled-park-opens-may.

Woman in famous Kansas desegregation case dies

Linda Brown, the Topeka, Kansas, student who was a focal point of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision desegregating schools, died on March 25. She was 76 years old.

Linda Brown was remembered in a statement from Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer recently: “Sixty-four years ago a young girl from Topeka, Kansas sparked a case that ended segregation in public schools in America. Linda Brown’s life reminds us that by standing up for our principles and serving our communities we can truly change the world. Linda’s legacy is a crucial part of the American story and continues to inspire the millions who have realized the American dream because of her.”

Colyer ordered flags to be flown at half-staff from Wednesday, March 28, through sundown Friday, March 30, to honor Linda Brown.

Brown’s case was consolidated with others throughout the nation and it made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1954 outlawed the segregation of schools.

Today there is a Brown vs. Board of Education national historic site in Topeka. To learn more about it, visit
https://www.nps.gov/brvb/learn/historyculture/kansas.htm.