Kansas committee approves bill to authorize South Central Regional Mental Health Hospital

The House Committee on Health and Human Services voted to move House Bill 2365 favorably after amending county designations, authorizing the South Central Regional Mental Health Hospital in statute and creating a hospital fee fund.

The bill adds the new hospital to state law as a state psychiatric hospital, updates statutory cross-references that now list the South Central Regional Mental Health Hospital alongside existing state facilities, and creates the South Central Regional Mental Health Hospital fee fund to hold related receipts, according to Jenna Moyer, adviser in the Revisor of Statutes office.

The measure, as described by Scott Bruner, deputy secretary for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), authorizes a 104-bed facility in south Wichita intended to serve adults committed for involuntary treatment under the Care Treatment Act and criminal defendants needing competency services. Bruner said Sedgwick County is the primary construction partner: the county acquired the site at McArthur and Meridian, contracted designers and a general contractor, and will complete construction before transferring the building and equipment to the state for operation.

Bruner told the committee the project timeline calls for substantial completion of construction by October 2026, county transfer of the building and equipment by the end of 2026, and admission of the first patient in January 2027. He said the facility will operate under the jurisdiction of the KDADS secretary and will coordinate with the state hospitals at Larned and Osawatomie.

KDADS described the project funding history during testimony: an initial set of appropriations included $15 million across fiscal years 2023–2025, a 2024 legislative addition of $26.5 million increased capacity from an originally planned 50 beds to 104, and $25 million in SPARK funding is also part of the project. Bruner told the committee the construction budget alone is approximately $86,500,000 and that total appropriations through 2026 amount to about $111 million. KDADS said the agency will submit a full operating budget request for FY2027.

Supporters said the hospital responds to recommendations in the 2018 mental health task force report and stakeholder work. Amy Campbell of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition told the committee the facility reflects years of planning and that the coalition supports the bill as part of a broader continuum of care that also includes community crisis beds and local crisis services.

During committee consideration members adopted a technical amendment to revise catchment-area county language. Representative Bell moved that technical amendment; the committee approved the change by voice vote. The committee then voted the bill favorably as amended.

The bill also renames Parsons State Hospital and Training Center as Parsons State Hospital, language KDADS representatives said reflects modern clinical practice at that campus.

KDADS and Sedgwick County told the committee the state has already appointed an acting superintendent and is working on operational policy, staffing plans, and procedures ahead of building turnover to reduce startup risk. Bruner said the secretary may allow out-of-catchment admissions or transfer patients between state psychiatric hospitals when capacity or resources require it.

The committee record includes written proponent testimony from law enforcement and other stakeholders and proponent witnesses at the hearing; no formal fiscal note was attached to HB 2365 at the time of the committee vote, and KDADS said staffing and full operating costs will be part of a future budget request.

Although supporters described broad stakeholder engagement and a 15-member advisory panel that met monthly during design, questions from committee members focused on funding, the construction timeline, and bed counts. KDADS answered those questions on the record and provided a summary of appropriations and project estimates.