KSA 76-147 allows the The Kansas Board of Regents (Board) to acquire land for building or utility construction; however, there is no required notification to the Legislature in taking this action, nor is there a statute regarding the acquisition of buildings. The Board policy states that state universities may acquire real property necessary to properly maintain and carry on a state university or the business thereof.
Kansas Hospital Mandates
In 2021, several Kansas hospitals mandated all staff receive vaccinations against COVID-19. The table below lists hospitals and hospital systems in the state that issued COVID-19 vaccine mandates, as well as the date by which staff were to complete the vaccine regimen. Some hospitals, such as AdventHealth, paused their mandates following court injunctions against federal vaccine mandates.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued technical guidance on the topic of vaccine requirements. According to the EEOC, employers can mandate employees receive vaccines subject to reasonable accommodation provisions in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
| Hospital or System | Vaccine Deadline |
| Ascension Via Christi | 11/11/21 |
| Lawrence Memorial Hospital Health | 11/21/21 |
| Mercy Health System | 09/30/21 |
| Stormont Vail Health | 10/30/21 |
| University of Kansas Health System Kansas City Division | 12/01/21 |
| University of Kansas Health System St Francis Campus (Topeka) | 12/01/21 |
| Advent Health | 01/04/22 |
Health-Related Federal Vaccination Requirements
In August 2021, the Biden Administration announced it would require all staff at Medicaid-participating nursing homes to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4, 2022. In September 2021, CMS extended that requirement to include staff at the following facilities, as a condition for participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs:
- Acute care facilities;
- Critical access hospitals;
- Inpatient rehabilitation facilities;
- Ambulatory surgical centers;
- Comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities;
- Federally qualified health centers;
- Rural health clinics;
- Durable medical equipment suppliers;
- Home health agencies;
- Hospices; and
- Clinical laboratories.
According to CMS data on nursing facilities nationwide, as of October 21, 2021, an average of 64.7 percent of health care personnel in Kansas nursing care facilities had completed a COVID-19 vaccination regimen. Staff at two Kansas facilities were 100 percent vaccinated against COVID-19.
On November 29, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri issued a preliminary injunction against the federal vaccine mandate for employees at CMS-regulated facilities in the 10 states, including Kansas, that filed the lawsuit [State of Missouri, et al. v. Joseph Biden, Jr., No. 4:21-cv-01329-MTS (E.D. Mo.)]. As of December 2021, two other district courts had issued injunctions against the CMS mandate, bringing the total number of states affected by the CMS mandate injunctions to 25. As a result of the injunctions, CMS announced on its website it had “suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of this rule pending future developments in the litigation.” The federal government appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit requesting a stay of the injunction granted by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, but the stay was denied. The federal government then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of the preliminary injunction pending appeal. On January 7, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the CMS mandate injunctions. On January 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court in Biden v. Missouri, 142 S. Ct. 647 (2022) granted the federal government’s request for a stay of the preliminary injunction pending the government’s appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the disposition of the government’s petition for a writ of certiorari. The federal vaccine mandate for healthcare workers began being enforced nationwide in February 2022.
In February 2022, Kansas Governor Kelly announced Kansas regulators would not enforce the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate at hospitals and other health care facilities after negotiations with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In April 2022, Missouri and the other states asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to expedite hearing the merits of the case on vaccine mandate for health care workers, but the Eighth Circuit Court instead vacated the preliminary injunction and sent the case back to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri to proceed to a trial. The states then appealed that Eighth Circuit Court decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the states’ challenge on October 3, 2022.
In June 2023, CMS published a final rule, effective August 5, 2023, withdrawing the COVID-19 health care staff vaccination requirements, including removing the requirement for COVID-19 vaccination policies and procedures for health care staff. The rule states CMS would not enforce staff vaccination provisions between June 5, 2023, and August 4, 2023.
U.S. Department of Labor Rules
In September 2021, the Biden Administration announced the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was planning to require all employers with 100 or more employees to protect all staff from COVID-19. According to OSHA, the Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard required covered employers to develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID–19 vaccination policy, with an exception for employers that instead adopted a policy requiring employees to either get vaccinated or elect to undergo regular COVID–19 testing and wear a face covering at work in lieu of vaccination. As of January 2022, OSHA withdrew the proposed standard.
by Amanda Prosser
Fiscal Analyst
785-296-7879