Register editor:
Removing Nathan Fawson as CEO of the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center is an example of small town politics at its worst.
This is very unfortunate and shortsighted. The changes he was implementing to the six-county region were improving access to care at many levels. The statistics on their website prove it. While Fawson’s compensation became a lightning rod, the fact is in the healthcare industry, salaries like Fawson’s are not uncommon. It takes attractive salaries to bring in good talent like Fawson’s to rural, underserved areas like southeast Kansas.
SEK Mental Health Center’s expansion of services was done in coordination with local providers. The facts are that other area providers not as efficient were threatened by the growth, even as they benefited from it. Now, by unwinding recent acquisitions and removing him from the helm, the board has done nothing but hurt local residents. The county commissioners who mounted this coup should be impeached and recalled. It is truly disgraceful.
The willful incompetence is astounding.
Steven Campanini, Dallas, Tex.
About the author: Campanini is a healthcare executive who grew up in Iola. He is the son of Sergio Campanini, a longtime Iolan who died in 2025.
