Topeka ? A legislative panel has recommended creation of a commission to study the possible closing of one state hospital for the mentally ill and one for the developmentally disabled.

The recommendation by the House Appropriations Committee subcommittee on social services spending could be a step toward closing two of Kansas’ five public hospitals sometime in the future. The full panel reviewed the proposal Tuesday.

For the fiscal year that begins July 1, the subcommittee suggested few changes in Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ proposed $2.14 billion budget for the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. The Senate Ways and Means Committee kept Sebelius’ proposed budget intact as well.

House Appropriations Chairman Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, said the committee would probably vote today on the SRS budget proposal.

SRS furloughed 120 employees Friday to save money and is keeping about 900 vacant positions unfilled, Secretary Janet Schalansky said after the hearing. SRS has 6,300 positions.

Sebelius’ fiscal year 2004 budget includes $105.9 million for the state hospital system, of which $55.4 million would come from general revenues.

Schalansky said having a commission study whether to close two state hospitals was a fair approach. The work of a similar commission, formed in 1995, led to the closings of a Winfield hospital for the developmentally disabled and one for the mentally ill in Topeka.

Kansas now has three hospitals that serve the mentally ill: Larned State, Osawatomie State and the Rainbow Mental Health Facility in Kansas City.

The other two institutions — Parsons State Hospital and the Kansas Neurological Institute in Topeka — serve the developmentally disabled.

The hospitals’ populations have have been declining, partly reflecting a 20-year-old trend in state and federal policy toward removing patients from institutions and serving them in the least restrictive settings.

A decade ago, the five hospitals had an average daily census of 1,169 patients. This year, that figure is 867.

KNI and Parsons have a combined capacity of 790 patients but an average daily census of 366. The three mental health hospitals have a combined capacity of 582 patients and an average daily census of 501.