Advisory panel gives design updates on psychiatric hospital

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The South Central Regional Psychiatric Hospital Advisory panel had a meeting Friday to discuss the latest updates for the new hospital to be constructed in southwest Wichita.

Estimates for cost are still being worked out as the approval to begin a new design just happened early in the week from the Governor’s office. The original facility is supposed to have 50 beds, and the panel wants to find a way to add 50 more.

“If we go vertically and we’ve talked about that with the architects of stacking the patient units on top of each other, so there’s an upper limit. For this site, the only option would be to go vertical,” says KDADS Deputy Secretary of Hospitals and Facilities Scott Brunnerd.

Closer estimates of how much everything will cost will be revealed once the new design model is put together.

The county and state also want input from residents near Meridian and Macarthur, the site for the future facility. They are also working with the other state hospitals to determine the best layout.

“We’re asking a lot of nurses, social workers, our psychologist, our medical staff at Larned and Osawatomie to be part of that discussion at different degrees, and really dedicate their time to get it right and the design so it works well and we can take advantage of the site,” says Brunner.

The new design should be completed by October, with February being the target month to start building. A completion date for the hospital is set for August 2026.