Nathan Fawson has been removed as the chief executive officer of Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center. SEKMHC board attorney Jacob Bielenberg confirmed Fawson’s last day was April 30.
Fawson was placed on 90-day paid administrative leave Jan. 26. In Fawson’s absence, Doug Wright served as interim CEO and Chief Operating Officer. A new CEO has not yet been announced.
The move comes amid momentous changes for the nonprofit, which recently sold Yates Center Dental and Ashley Clinic. The organization’s Mound City office, which opened February 2025, has also closed.
Wanderley Reis, who joined the mental health center in March 2023 as Director of Business Development, has been dismissed as well.
FAWSON began as a therapist with SEKMHC in 1996 and later became associate director. He left in 2010 to become director of clinic operations at Cox Medical Center in Branson, Mo. He later returned to the mental health center in 2013 and became CEO in 2016.
He oversaw a staggering transformation of the organization, as it expanded to become a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic in 2022. The center’s number of employees nearly tripled since 2015, to 587 in 2024; the budget grew from $8 million to $75 million; and the number of patients served expanded to over 40,000 in 2024.
His departure puts an end to a saga that began last spring when reports of elevated executive pay surfaced. Fawson received $685,147 in compensation and $203,952 in benefits in 2024.
Reports of the leadership team’s salaries sparked a political backlash, and counties in the nonprofit’s service area began decreasing their support and replacing board members. All six counties (Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Linn, Neosho and Woodson) currently have at least one county commissioner on the board.
Fawson testified for over an hour in front of the Kansas House Health and Human Services Committee on Jan. 20. It would be one of his last public appearances as CEO. He was suspended by the board six days later.
RECENT BOARD meeting minutes show the organization is moving to drastically reshape its scope of services.
At an April 14 board meeting, Neosho County Commission Nicholas Galemore moved to authorize the sale of Ashley Clinic to Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute “for the minimum acceptable price, the current office price.”
Meeting minutes only mention the sale of the Ashley Clinic building and fixtures at 505 S. Plummer, Chanute. Ashley Clinic currently operates additional locations in Iola, Yates Center, and Humboldt.
As earlier reported, the Chanute hospital will not keep Ashley Clinic’s pharmacy in Humboldt open past the month of May.
Last week, at Humboldt’s community conversation, Dr. Amber Wheeler, superintendent of USD 258 schools, said she had signed a two-year contract with Neosho Memorial to keep the clinic at the new Cubs Care Community Center south of town.
At an April 7 board meeting, minutes also mention a new Community Mental Health Center (CHMC) participation agreement is being negotiated.
CMHCs are designated and overseen by the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. They are charged with providing community-based public mental health services. There are 26 CMHCs in Kansas.