Proposed Kansas Data Center Near Psychiatric Hospital Raises Patient Safety Concerns
A proposed data center, known as Project Catalyst, is planned for a site just hundreds of yards from the Osawatomie State Hospital in Kansas, a taxpayer-funded psychiatric facility. The development, which has expanded from 115 to 283 acres, is raising significant safety concerns regarding the well-being of the hospital's vulnerable patients. Clayton Sherlock, a former direct care staff member at the hospital, has voiced fears that the construction and prolonged operational noise, light, and vibrations from the data center could negatively impact patients, potentially worsening psychosis or being incorporated into their delusions. Many patients at Osawatomie State Hospital are court-committed, meaning they are involuntarily placed there, which Sherlock argues increases the state's obligation to protect their rights and ensure their treatment is not hindered. Despite these concerns, Osawatomie City Manager Bret Glendening stated that patient welfare concerns "have been determined not to be concerns for a var... 
