WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita, Kansas, owner of a massage parlor has pleaded guilty to federal charges related to a sex-trafficking case involving a Chinese woman.

Prosecutors say 60-year-old GiGi’s Elite Massage owner Samir Elias pleaded guilty in federal court Monday in Wichita to one count each of harboring an alien for financial gain and of importation of an alien for prostitution.

Prosecutors said Elias was housing a Chinese woman who worked at his massage parlor, knowing she was selling sex at the business. Elias admitted collecting from her money he knew were proceeds from that activity.

Prosecutors say the woman was arrested after offering sex acts to an undercover police detective who went into Elias’ parlor for a massage.

Elias’ sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12.

NEW YORK (AP) — Kellogg Co. is recalling about 10,000 cases of its Eggo Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat Waffles because they could be contaminated with the bacteria listeria.

Listeria can cause serious and even deadly infections. It primarily affects the elderly, pregnant women, newborns and people with weak immune systems.  See additional details here.

The Battle Creek, Michigan company said Monday it has received no reports of illnesses. Kellogg says it learned of the potential problem after routine tests.

The waffles — available in 10-count packs with “Used by” dates of Nov. 21, 2017 and Nov. 22, 2017 — were sold in 25 states. Other Eggo Waffle flavors and sizes are not being recalled.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An employees union has received complaints that high-level managers kept some Kansas psychiatric hospital employees from receiving superior ratings on annual performance reviews.

The Topeka Capital-Journalreports that the Kansas Organization of State Employees says it received complaints from three workers at Larned State Hospital, which has struggled with staffing shortages. The workers told the union that that their hospital supervisors rated them “exceptional” but that those determinations were overruled by central office administrators at the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services.

The employee union’s executive director, Rebecca Proctor, says two mid-level hospital supervisors reported executives at KDADS were responsible for lowering staff ratings.

KDADS secretary Tim Keck said he hadn’t issued a directive to low-ball annual evaluation scores. He says that would undermine employee relations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Relatives of Dwight D. Eisenhower have dropped their objections to the design of a long-planned memorial for the 34th president in Washington.

The Eisenhower Memorial Commission announced Monday that Ike’s relatives now support the memorial designed by esteemed architect Frank Gehry after negotiations “yielded a compromise on several design elements.” Former Secretary of State James Baker was involved in those negotiations.  See the letter from the Eisenhower family here.

Watch Senator Roberts’ announcement on the news from the Eisenhower family.

The modified design will place more emphasis on Eisenhower’s home state of Kansas and will represent the site of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France, as it exists today.

Congress approved the memorial in 1999 and allocated funding for planning, but the project has bogged down over objections to the design. Supporters are trying to raise $150 million with the goal of completing the memorial by 2019.

RENO COUNTY -A Kansas man sentenced to over 18 years in prison in a kidnapping case was found guilty Monday for threatening the lives of two Hutchinson Police officers.

Judge Tim Chambers found Todd Lloyd, 32, Hutchinson, guilty for threatening officers who were involved in his conviction for kidnapping.

In the kidnapping case of October 2014, Lloyd was convicted to pointing two knives at his girlfriend’s head when police came to arrest him on a warrant. He also placed the woman between himself and armed officers.

Lloyd threatened to kill the officers if he ever got out of jail.

Sentencing in the threat against police officers is set for October 14.

State records show Lloyd has 11 convictions since 2001 in Reno, Sedgwick and Leavenworth counties.

 

SHAWNEE COUNTY -Fire investigators are working to determine the cause of three Sunday night car fires in Topeka.

Just after 11:30 p.m. on crews responded to the fires and loud explosions in the 3700 Block of SW Kiowa Street, according to a media release.

A resident at 3718 SW Kiowa Street heard a loud noise and upon investigating he discovered two vehicles on fire in the driveway and called 911.

Companies on scene of multi car fire in 3700 blk of Kiowa. Investigator on scene. pic.twitter.com/XTMVo7MP8Z

— Topeka Fire Dept (@Topekafire) September 19, 2016

A neighbor noticed another vehicle on fire that was parked along the street within the 3700 block of Kiowa and called 911.

The Topeka Fire Department responded and upon arrival reported three vehicles on fire.

Crews quickly extinguished the fires and protected the house at 3718 SW Kiowa Street from damage.

After an initial investigation, it is believed the fires were intentionally set, according to the Topeka Fire Marshal.

There were no injuries.

Damage is estimated at $11,000 dollars.

BY MEGAN HART

After a series of hits to their budgets, community mental health centers in Kansas are adjusting through cutbacks, changes in services or a combination of the two.

In Topeka, Valeo Behavioral Health Care plans to limit sessions for uninsured patients. Valeo provided about $2 million in charitable care last year but can’t offer that much this year because of cuts to Medicaid and other revenue streams, CEO Bill Persinger says.

The center won’t turn anyone away, but patients who don’t have a form of insurance covering mental health care may receive fewer therapy sessions than in the past, he says.

“Because of changes to every funding stream we have, we aren’t going to be able to provide the same level of service to the uninsured and underinsured,” he says. “When you choke off those funding streams, like the arteries to a heart, the heart is less efficient.”

Kansas made a 4 percent cut to Medicaid reimbursements as part of a package to balance the budget, reducing payments that mental health centers and other providers receive for their services. A program to provide medical care for people with mental illnesses and chronic medical conditions through a “health home” also ended earlier this year, taking away a higher payment rate that could subsidize other types of care.

Community mental health centers can’t turn away patients who need care because of an inability to pay, but at times they have made patients wait or offered them fewer services if they lacked the staff or funding to treat them.

Valeo still will have a hotline and crisis center available 24 hours for emergencies, Persinger says. Other services will be limited based on the patient’s needs and what the center can afford to offer, which is a common practice under commercial insurers and Medicaid, he says.

While Valeo officials still are working out the details, Persinger says the overall plan is to assess the number of therapy sessions and intensive supports a patient is likely to need. After patients use those sessions, they might be approved for more services or transition to a less-intensive level of care, with routine calls from a case manager, support groups and medications still covered, he says.

“If we says eight (therapy sessions) and somebody needed 15, they’re going to have to show why they need those seven sessions,” he says.

The intention isn’t to leave people on their own, Persinger says, but to cut services to a sustainable level while still meeting the patient’s mental health needs.

“If we need to still be providing services (after therapy sessions), we’ll be providing some different package,” he says.

Leaving positions open

Other mental health centers also have made cuts. Wyandot Center, in Wyandotte County, eliminated psychiatric services for about 800 adults and children.

Larger organizations like Wyandot Center serve more people and face different budget challenges, says Sherrie Watkins-Alvey, the center’s senior director. Mental health centers in cities also may have to pay their staff more due to a higher cost of living but get reimbursed at the same rate as rural providers, she says.

“Some communities like Topeka, like Wichita and like Kansas City were hit harder just by sheer numbers,” she says.

Others have been able to balance their budgets by leaving open positions vacant. Matthew Atteberry, executive director of the Labette Center for Mental Health Services, says that strategy should allow the center to avoid other major changes this year, so long as the state doesn’t make any more large cuts.

Some people mistakenly think that mental health centers are charitable organizations, Atteberry says, but they do have to make enough money to continue providing care. Centers have been coping with cuts since the recession, he says, and all have been under strain.

“I think every center is getting to the point where they’re as lean as they know how to be and still perform the mission,” he says.

Marilyn Cook, executive director of COMCARE in Sedgwick County, says the center has left some positions open but has no immediate plans for layoffs. COMCARE took some “heavy hits” from elimination of the health home program and reductions in Medicaid rates, losing more than $900,000, she says.

So far, COMCARE officials are trying to be more efficient and working to document everything so they receive the maximum allowable Medicaid reimbursement, Cook says. They also are trying to offset uninsured patients with those who have some form of coverage, she says.

“It’s a hard balancing act, there’s no question about it,” she says.

Ric Dalke, executive director of Compass Behavioral Health in Garden City, estimates the changes had cut about $1 million from the center’s $13 million annual budget.

One of the center’s two psychiatrists is retiring and won’t be replaced, he says, so the center will use a new scheduling system and walk-in hours to make the best use of the other psychiatrist’s time.

Dalke says he thinks the center can make up much of the difference through attrition and grants that free dollars for general expenses, but finances remain a challenge.

“We’ve had state cuts now since 2008,” he says.

‘Knock on wood’

The financial picture for the mental health centers isn’t settled, because they still are negotiating their annual contracts with the state. It isn’t unusual for those to run past the June 30 deadline, says Walt Hill, executive director of High Plains Mental Health Center in Hays. The contracts have followed a formula set in the 1990s, based on factors including the number of state hospital beds each mental health center was supposed to replace, the local population and how many people have historically used each center, he says.

Angela de Rocha, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, says most of the mental health centers had agreed to extend their contracts until Oct. 1, to give them time to finish agreements for the current fiscal year.

Not all centers anticipate making cuts this year. Rob Runquist, executive director of Crosswinds Counseling and Wellness in Emporia, says the center has been looking at ways to deliver services more efficiently in anticipation of cuts. In its case, however, being more efficient involved opening new locations, he says.

While opening new locations involves some upfront investment, it has helped Crosswinds to avoid having to hire more clinicians, Runquist says. When the provider is within a half-hour drive, people are less likely to miss their appointments and the clinician spends less traveling to see clients, he says. Both changes mean each provider can put more time into the work of seeing patients.

“We’re able to serve more people just by being closer to where they live,” he says.

Crosswinds also has raised some additional revenue by seeking private donors, applying for grants and marketing the center as an option for people with commercial insurance and mental health needs, Runquist says. So far, the combination of new revenue, efficiencies and not replacing some people who have retired has been enough to close the revenue gap, he says.

“Knock on wood, so far it’s been working well for us,” he says.

Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC