The embattled head of the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center based in Iola was suspended from his position on Monday by the organization’s board of trustees, only days after testifying to a Kansas House Legislative Committee about operations and controversies surrounding his organization.
SEKMHC board member Mike Blaufuss told the Kansas Informer Nathan Fawson had been suspended for 90 days with pay, while the board determined “which direction” it would take in the future.
A copy of a memo to SEK staff from the board of trustees and obtained by the Informer gave staff notice of Fawson’s suspension, and told them Dr. Doug Wright, who currently serves as Chief Operating Officer, would serve as interim CEO. The letter, dated January 26, said the changes were effective immediately.
“The board is committed to ensuring that SEKMHC remains a stable and supportive environment for both our staff and the communities we serve,” the memo read. “Dr. Wright has been a vital part of this organization, and his clinical expertise and familiarity with our operations make him the ideal leader to guide us through this transition.”
Fawson testified before the Kansas House Health and Human Services Committee January 22, telling legislators cost-based reimbursements for mental health services through Medicaid brought about by a certification change allowed the agency to grow from just over a hundred staffers serving the 6-county area to more than 500 – predominantly funded by an expansion in Medicaid billing via that change in certification. SEK’s IRS 990 tax form shows about 120 employees in 2011, which Fawson said grew exponentially as the center was able to offer higher salaries to providers and other staff as it expanded into a Certified Community Based Mental Health Center operational model offering additional services.
As part of that expansion SEK purchased Ashley Clinic in Chanute to move into primary medical care offerings, and later purchased Yates Center Dental to offer dental services in that community.
Fawson, his executive team and SEK’s board of trustees drew fire from county commissioners in its service area of Anderson, Allen, Bourbon, Woodson, Neosho and Linn counties, due to what they viewed as exorbitantly high compensation for those upper managers after the Kansas Informer broke the story in March of last year. Based on a national consultant’s recommendation, trustees approved salary and benefits for Fawson that topped $800,000 in 2025, and for other execs that far outpaced any similar positions in Kansas. Revenues and salaries for SEKMHC were the highest of all 26 Kansas mental health center districts, and executive salaries put Fawson and his immediate reports in the fabled “1 percent” of earners in the country.
Though no malfeasance has been claimed involving funding at SEKMHC, legislators who attended the HHS hearing said publicity around massive Medicaid fraud allegation claims in Minnesota focused more attention on SEK’s heavy Medicakd funding and compensation packages.
Leadership in most of the counties acted during last summer’s budgeting period to strip all local county funding from SEK, saying and organization that could pay those salaries didn’t need money fro local taxpayers. Those subsidies ranged from $30,000 to more than $100,000 per county.
Commissioners also acted to rescind appointments for one or in some cases both of their local appointees that make up SEK’s board of trustees, replacing those members with new selections who in several cases were sitting county commissioners from the member counties.
Blaufuss said the board meeting vote that suspended Fawson happened Monday. He said the board of trustees was under no legal obligation to give a reason for Fawson’s suspension and offered none. The Informer was unable to determine immediately what the vote among the newly seated trustees was for that decision.
The staff memo pledged a dedication to transparency and a commitment to provide further updates as more information was available.
Dane Hicks is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, VA. He is the author of novels "The Skinning Tree" and "A Whisper For Help." As publisher of the Anderson County Review in Garnett, KS., he is a recipient of the Kansas Press Association's Boyd Community Service Award as well as more than 60 awards for excellence in news, editorial and photography.
