MCPHERSON COUNTY – Three people were injured in a four-vehicle accident just after 1p.m. on Sunday in McPherson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Ford Police Interceptor State Trooper was stopped on the left shoulder providing traffic control for a 2013 Toyota Corolla on southbound Interstate 135 just north of Arrowhead Road.
A 1999 Dodge Dakota driven by Hanson, Christian Hanson, 20, Lindsborg, was southbound in the left lane then moved to the right lane and slowed due to traffic.
A 2015 Toyota Venza driven by Guadalupe Garcia, 60, Wichita, was southbound in the right lane, unable to slow and rear-ended the Dodge pickup.
The Dodge then traveled to the left into the median and struck the rear of the KHP vehicle. The trooper’s vehicle then collided with the Corolla
Garcia and passengers in the Venza Jorge Concha, 61, and Alexa Flores, 9, both of Wichita were transported to the hospital in Newton.
Hanson was also possibly injured, according to the KHP.
The trooper and occupants of the Corolla were not injured.
All were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
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MCPHERSON COUNTY – The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a trooper’s patrol vehicle was hit while he was pulled over to help a disabled driver on Sunday.
Four vehicles were involved in the collision on Interstate 135 in McPherson County.
The trooper was not injured, according to the KHP.
Two others received minor injuries.
Check the Post for additional details as they become available.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Despite overcast skies and cool temperatures, the Special Olympics Torch run with local law enforcement was held Saturday morning with a number of local law enforcement agencies involved. This is to bring awareness and raise some money for Special Olympics.
The Reno County version of the the Law Enforcement Torch Run is part of a series of statewide runs which will travel approximately 1,276 miles throughout the state.
The Torch Run in Hutchinson started at 17th and went to Avenue A Park. Special Olympic athletes from Reno County joined officers starting at 4th Street and continued to Avenue A.
Law Enforcement Officers, along with Dustin Gunter, member of Royal Valley Panthers Special Olympics in Hoyt, Most Inspirational Athlete of 2015, will light the cauldron to officially open the Summer Games in front of over 3,000 athletes, coaches and fans of Special Olympics Kansas on June 3rd in Wichita.
The Torch Run is the largest grassroots fundraiser and public awareness vehicle for Special Olympics Kansas. Officers volunteer hundreds of hours each year and in 2015 raised $543,582.96 in support of Special Olympics Kansas programs.
For more information on Special Olympics, visit the Kansas website at www.ksso.org.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — They came in a sea of red to pay tribute to one of Hutchinson Community College’s most respected supporter and coach.
Services were held Friday afternoon for Sam Butterfield who died this week at the age of 96. Butterfield was both a coach and athletic director at HCC, and was a fixture at the college even after he departed as an employee. His love for athletics, his family, and all HCC sports certainly endeared him to many. And he was always there to make a new friend or support the many he already had.
Butterfield is already remembered with his name adorning the basketball floor and his son Steve Butterfield took time to announce that his family’s name will continue to live on at HCC with the basketball scholarship in his parents honor.
Steve also took time to remember his childhood when he and his brother Scott would run from Graber Elementary School as fast as they could after class so they could get to basketball practice. He also talked about how much his father cherished the support of other coaches, the school and the community over the his final few years.
Friday’s service was officiated by Rev. Mark Miller and included the singing of the Lord’s prayer by Robert Calhoun and the playing of taps and an honor guard for Sam’s service in World War II. Two folded flags were presented to Butterfield’s sons and family. The arena was decorated with the red that Sam made so famous by introducing it to his basketball team and eventually the whole school.
Gov. Sam Brownback announced more than $97 million in budget cuts Wednesday, including $56 million from the state’s privatized Medicaid program known as KanCare. FILE PHOTO / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
Gov. Sam Brownback trimmed more than $56 million from Medicaid in Kansas as part of larger budget cuts announced Wednesday, raising concerns that health care providers may decide not to take unprofitable patients.
About $38.2 million of the $56.4 million in budget cuts comes from reducing reimbursements by 4 percent for providers who treat patients covered by KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program launched in 2013. The remaining $18.2 million comes from cuts in other areas of the Medicaid program.
The cuts come after the Kansas Legislature adjourned earlier this month, leaving more than $80 million in cuts up to Brownback in order to balance the budget.
Providers offering home and community-based services to Kansans with disabilities are exempt from the reductions, as are critical access hospitals and hospitals in counties defined as rural, densely settled rural and frontier. However, all 127 of the state’s community hospitals will be subject to a $3.5 million cut in a program intended to increase provider participation in KanCare.
Cindy Samuelson, a spokesperson for the Kansas Hospital Association, said the cuts break a promise Brownback made to health care providers when he sought their support for privatizing Medicaid.
“When Governor Brownback began the KanCare program, he emphasized that his Medicaid reform program would allow the state to avoid Medicaid rate cuts,” Samuelson said. “The governor’s proposal to now cut Medicaid rates is a broken promise.”
In addition, Samuelson said, the rate reductions will add to the financial pressures hospitals are operating under due to reductions in Medicare reimbursement rates and the loss over the last years of nearly $1.2 billion in federal funds because of Brownback’s rejection of Medicaid expansion.
Dennis Cooley, a Topeka pediatrician, said that while a 4 percent reduction may not sound like much, primary care doctors
Dr. Dennis Cooley, a Topeka pediatrician, says the Medicaid cuts are particularly concerning because about a third of Kansas children are covered by the program. CREDIT FILE PHOTO / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR
typically have slim profit margins because of the need to keep professionals on staff and pay for technology like electronic health records. They already receive less to care for Medicaid patients than they do for Medicare patients, and about half as much as they would for patients with commercial insurance, he said.
“From a financial standpoint, you’re losing money, so you just can’t see Medicaid patients,” he said.
The cuts are particularly concerning for pediatricians, Cooley said, because about one-third of Kansas children are covered by Medicaid. In the past, his practice and others have had to limit their Medicaid patients so they could balance them financially with patients with private insurance, he said.
If enough providers decide they can’t afford to take new Medicaid patients or even drop out of the program altogether, that creates concerns about access to care, Cooley said. Not every public health department can provide primary care services, he said, and parents who can’t find a doctor for their child may only seek care if the health issue is serious enough to merit an emergency room visit.
“It’s the kids I’m dealing with that are going to suffer,” he said, adding that “it’s short-sighted” to cut Medicaid reimbursements.
A Kansas provider earns only 78 percent as much, on average, for a patient insured by Medicaid as one insured by Medicare. The ratio is even less for obstetric providers, who earn about 72 cents for every $1 they would be reimbursed for treating a Medicare patient.
As of 2014, Kansas reimbursement rates for most Medicaid services were near the middle compared to other states, tying for 24th overall. Its reimbursements for obstetrics were on the low end, however, tying for 35th.
Rachelle Colombo, director of government affairs for the Kansas Medical Society, said providers are still evaluating the effect that the Medicaid reimbursement cuts will have on their practices. But she said some may decide not to serve Medicaid patients if the reduction is too steep.
“It’s certainly not going to promote more provider participation,” she said.
Other budget reductions to health programs include:
$378,000 from safety net clinics. Cassie Sparks, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said the Legislature had allocated $378,000 more than Brownback had suggested in last year’s budget. KDHE will work with the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved to recoup that money.
$330,000 from the KDHE immunization program. Federal Medicaid reimbursements were higher than expected, Sparks said, so KDHE could return that money to the state general fund and still buy the same number of vaccines.
$250,000 in unspecified cuts to non-Medicaid programs under the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services.
$78,000 from an unfilled position in KDHE’s Office of Inspector General. KDHE still is attempting to recruit someone to fill that job and will find resources to pay the person’s salary if a suitable candidate is found, Sparks said.
$250,000 from senior care programs through KDADS.
Some of the remaining reductions to Medicaid come from policy changes. For example, KDADS expects to save $1.3 million by limiting the range of household duties a support worker can perform if a person recieving in-home resides with a non-disabled person, said Angela de Rocha, a KDADS spokeswoman.
KDADS estimates it can save an additional $1.3 million by paying providers only for days when they work rather than paying them a daily rate to be on call, de Rocha said.
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
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — If you drive out on Blanchard SW near what used to be the Mohawk Road intersection, you’ll certainly notice changes in the area.
Mohawk Road was closed in April at the request of Enterprise Gas so they could expand their rail loading facility. The project is moving along quickly, with the loading area already completed. Crews are now laying seven rail spurs that will be used to sort loaded and unloaded cars for shipment.
According to Rick Rainey, Company Spokesperson with Enterprise, the project is about 60 percent completed, and should be fully operational by August. The total cost of the project is $34 million, and is the third major petroleum rail loading facility built in Hutchinson in the past two years.
After weighing their options over a two-week period, Reno County Commissioners approved closing Mohawk Road in the interest of safety, though some farmers in the area objected.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Midwest Transplant Network has honored four Kansas hospitals, including Hutchinson Regional Medical Center, with the Excellence in Donation Award for its efforts in promoting tissue donations.
The Midwest Transplant Network is headquartered in Westwood, Kan., and works with hospitals in Kansas and the western two-thirds of Missouri.
Rachelle Bryan, RN, Lead Patient Care Supervisor at HRMC, said the tissue donations from HRMC included heart valves, eyes, bones, skin and some veins. Donations were received from 11 patients and, in most cases, included multiple items. As many as 50 tissue items can be retrieved from a single individual.
According to Bryan, not every patient is an eligible tissue donor. Of the eligible donors at HRMC, 41 percent participated in tissue donations, a statistic that ranks above the national average.
“We are available to work with patients and their families who are interested in bringing life to others through organ and tissue donations,” Bryan said.
Ken Johnson, President and CEO of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System, said the prestigious award bestowed on HRMC is not the first from the Midwest Transplant Network.
“During the past 43 years, HRMC has been recognized multiple times by the Midwest Transplant Network for our efforts to promote organ donations.”
“During 2015, 30,000 organ transplants were performed in the United States and, unfortunately, 120,000 Americans are on an organ waiting list,” Johnson said. “Hutchinson Regional Medical Center is doing its part to promote organ and tissue donations and is a recognized leader in Kansas for the success our healthcare professionals have achieved in this effort.”
Earlier last week, Saving Sight, a national organization dedicated to cornea transplants, honored HRMC for its efforts in retrieving 22 cornea donations for transplant during 2015.
The Midwest Transplant Network was established in 1973 with a goal of providing quality results in all facets of transplant and procurement services.
By, Steve Carpenter, HCC Sports Information (Photo courtesy of Hutchinson Community College)
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – On Sunday, Sam Butterfield died at the age of 96.
Butterfield came to Hutchinson as its men’s basketball coach before the 1956-57 season. After nine seasons on the bench, Butterfield became the Hutchinson athletic program’s second athletic director and kept that post until 1984.
Through that time, the Blue Dragon men’s basketball program grew into an NJCAA power and the overall athletic program became one of the strongest in the nation.
On Nov. 6, 2010, the Sports Arena court was named in honor of Sam Butterfield.
Butterfield came to Hutchinson in 1957. A track athlete at Emporia State, Butterfield cut his athletic career short as World War II started and he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Upon his return to Kansas to finish his education and was contemplating a career as an athletic trainer. He instead became a coach.
Butterfield was hired at Hutchinson by Charles Sesher and brought a fast-paced, pressure defense, team-oriented style of play to the Sports Arena. The team and the town took to it right away.
Butterfield spent nine seasons on the Blue Dragon bench. He compiled a record of 178-61, including a 68-22 Jayhawk Conference record. His 178 coaching victories are fifth on Hutchinson’s coaches list behind only Sesher (259 wins), Gary Bargen (199 wins), Steve Eck (196 wins) and Gene Keady (187 wins).
Butterfield won seven Jayhawk Conference titles and made four NJCAA Tournament appearances in 1958, 1960, 1961 and 1966, finishing third in 1958.
In the summer of 1966, Butterfield stepped down as basketball coach and became the Blue Dragons’ Director of Athletics. His first hire was a basketball coach named Gene Keady.
Butterfield graduated from Emporia State University in 1947. He was an ESU Hall of Fame Inductee in 1992 and an original HCC Quarterback Club Hall of Fame inductee.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Once again a good crowd was in attendance for the brief memorial service Friday honoring law enforcement officers, especially those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect the citizens they served. This event is held annually as part of National Peace Officer’s Memorial Day.
The guest speaker was Brigadier General Robert Windham, who is the assistant Adjutant General of Kansas for the Army. He spoke of what law enforcement officers do for us every day.
He said that, “Today, we give gratitude for those who have served with unwavering integrity and honor.” He says they did so with their very lives defending our families and communities.
He says, often with our busy lives, we take for granted what those who lost their lives, the sacred gift, gave to us.
Also speaking during the ceremony was Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson. He told the gathering that last year 128 men and women of law enforcement lost their lives in the U.S. Henderson added that, already this year, we have lost 35.
The invocation was given by law enforcement Chaplain, Pastor Willard Stafford, who serves for both Hutchinson Police and the Reno County Sheriff’s Office.
The ceremony was concluded by the raising of the stars and stripes and the playing of taps.
They also had a lunch at a park near the Law Enforcement Center where hamburgers, chips, cookies and drinks were served as a courtesy of the local Civitan Club and Reno County Crime Stoppers.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — One person was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center and then a Wichita hospital Thursday afternoon after a two-vehicle accident in the city.
Everette Hardy was traveling on 14th and reportedly failed to stop at the stop sign with Poplar. His vehicle collided with a vehicle driven by 80-year-old Jack Johnson of Hutchinson.
Johnson was transported to the hospital for treatment of injuries and was later transported to a Wichita hospital. Hardy was not seriously hurt and was not transported to the hospital. He was cited for disobeying the stop sign.
Robert Johnson, Jr.-photo Kan. Dpt. of Corrections
HARVEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities in Harvey County are investigating a suspect in connection with a series of burglaries.
Beginning in September 2015 the city of Newton experienced numerous residential and vehicular burglaries, which appeared to be the work of a single serial burglar, according to police. These offenses abruptly stopped in late January of 2016.
During the course of the investigation, the Newton Police Department learned of similar offenses occurring in many jurisdictions in the region.
These agencies partnered, shared information, and have diligently been investigating these crimes since the beginning.
Police reported on Wednesday they are confident the serial burglar has been identified, and an arrest has been made.
During the early morning hours of Tuesday, a man was apprehended during the commission of a similar offense in Derby, according to police.
Rapid sharing of information led investigators to connecting numerous burglaries in the Newton area, Park City, Wichita, and Derby.
Numerous eye witness identifications and video evidence has identified as the suspect as Robert Johnson Jr.
He was paroled after a 20 year prison term, and moved to Newton in August of 2015, before relocating to Wichita.
Police believe Robert was targeting locations randomly, and acted alone while committing these crimes.
One factor, which may have played a role in ending the offenses in Newton, was the community’s response to warnings about securing residences. We believe it was this partnership with the community, which saw an increase in reported suspicious activity, heightened vigilance with regard to locking doors, and checking on neighbors, which made the difference.
vehicle. The trooper’s vehicle then collided with the Corolla
