GARNETT — Anderson County commissioners said Monday they were unlikely to allocate funds to the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center for the upcoming year, according to the Anderson County Review.
Anderson County is one of six in the SEKMHC service region — Allen, Woodson, Neosho, Bourbon and Linn are the others — which last year paid a collective $550,000 in order to help pay fees for those who lack health insurance or don’t qualify for Medicaid.
“We’re probably not going to contribute this year,” Commissioner Les McGhee told SEKMHC presenters after they spoke for nearly an hour to detail the health center’s mission and history, according to the Review.
The announcement comes weeks after Anderson County leaders expressed concern about executive salaries within the mental health center.
“We’ve never not supported the mission you’re doing,” McGhee told mental health center representatives at Monday’s meeting, according to the Review. “That’s never been what this is about.”
“We’re in the same boat you were in several years ago,” Commissioner Tony Mersman added. “We’re struggling with a budget. If we can utilize this somewhere else to help our constituents, we’ve got to do it.”
OTHER COUNTIES, including Allen, are considering similar budget requests for the mental health center as they shape their respective 2026 budgets this summer.
The counties’ combined contribution — about $550,000 — is less than 1% of the mental health center’s budget.
