Children in western and central Kansas now have a new resource for mental health concerns. The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services selected KVC Hospitals, Inc.(KVC) to provide psychiatric care for children in 51 counties from Salina west to the Colorado border. The new facility, Wheatland Psychiatric Hospital , will begin accepting patients ages 5-18 on May 3, 2010.

Wheatland is a 24-bed facility that will employ approximately 40 staff, mostly behavioral health care professionals. Children transferring to Wheatland would have been previously served atthe Larned State Hospital.

“This opportunity is consistent with the KVC mission to enrich and enhance the lives of children and families by providing medical and behavioral healthcare, social services, and education,” said Wayne Sims, President and CEO of KVC Behavioral Health Systems, KVC’s parent company. “We are honored to have been chosen to serve these children and families and look forward to being a part of their treatment and healing process.”

KVC currently provides the same level of services for children in eastern Kansas. These children formerly were served at the state’s Rainbow Mental Health Facility in Kansas City, Kansas. They are now treated at the KVC Psychiatric Hospital, which is part of the KVC psychiatric services campus for children and adolescents in Wyandotte County.

When a child is released from the program, KVC professionals will partner with community mental health centers in western Kansas to continue providing the highest quality of behavioral health care.

Hays Natives Return to Direct Hospital Services

James Van Doren, M.D ., who will serve as hospital physician, has a broad range of experience in the practice of psychiatry. He is a board certified psychiatrist specializing in psychodynamic therapy and psychopharmacology. He especially enjoys working with adolescents and their families. Dr. Van Doren, a Hays native, is returning from Tucson, AZ.

Hospital Administrator, Ryan Speier , has worked for KVC in Kansas City and is returning to his hometown to direct services at Wheatland.

KVC employee and Hays native Michelle Roberson  is returning to her hometown with husband James Roberson . He serves as Wheatland’s assistant administrator, while she splits her time between working at Wheatland and continuing her duties with KVC’s Child Placing Agency in Hays.

KVC Behavioral HealthCare also provides foster care services for children in northeast Kansas and finds adoptive Forever Families for many of these children. Information and photos of children awaiting adoption are available at www.kvc.org , or prospective parents can call 1-888-655-5500.

For more information contact:

Kyle Kessler

Senior Vice-President of Communications and Governmental Affairs

785-608-3254