Medical & Mental Health in Kansas (KDOC)

Health care in Kansas prisons

Kansas does not deliver prison health care with its own staff. Instead, KDOC contracts the service to a private medical company that staffs medical, dental, and behavioral (mental) health care across the state’s adult prisons.

This contract is in transition. VitalCore Health Strategies — a Topeka-based company — takes over the statewide prison medical contract effective July 1, 2026, replacing Centurion, the previous contractor. Because contracts like this are re-bid and can change, treat the named provider as subject to change and confirm who currently holds the contract at the facility where the person is held.

Routine care begins at each prison’s on-site clinic, generally through a sick-call request submitted to the facility’s medical staff. A co-pay may apply. Confirm the current sick-call procedure, the co-pay amount and any exemptions, and how to submit a request with the facility’s medical unit, because details change.

Mental and behavioral health

Mental and behavioral health care is part of the same contracted service that covers medical and dental care. It ranges from clinic-based care at individual prisons to more specialized treatment.

Larned State Correctional Facility (formerly the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility) in Larned was built on the Larned State Hospital grounds and has historically carried a specialized mental-health treatment mission for men in KDOC custody. Confirm current programs and where a particular person can be treated with the facility, because missions and placements change.

How a resident requests care

Routine care begins with a sick-call request submitted to the prison’s on-site medical staff. The exact form, where to submit it, and any charge vary by facility and can change, so confirm the current process with the facility’s medical unit.

Families generally cannot schedule appointments, obtain medical records, or direct treatment on a resident’s behalf without the resident’s authorization. A resident can authorize the release of medical information, and an urgent medical concern can be raised with the facility directly. Confirm the facility’s current process for medical questions and authorizations.

The grievance process

A health or treatment concern that cannot be resolved with the facility’s medical staff can be raised through the KDOC grievance process, the agency’s formal procedure for resident complaints. The procedure has internal review steps within the prison and the department.

Confirm the current grievance steps and deadlines with the facility’s medical staff, because the process and timelines change.

Verify Before Acting

For the general, nationwide overview of this topic, see the national guide: Know Your Rights.