Review of hospital security under consideration
| • | Recent escapes no surprise to State Hospital's neighbors |
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Health officials may soon commission a top-to-bottom review of security problems at the Hawai'i State Hospital, which has suffered a rash of escapes by potentially violent patients.
"We are considering bringing in some outside expertise to look into these issues," state Health Department director Bruce Anderson said. "We are seeing who is available. In the meantime, I do have confidence in the hospital's staff, who review every incident and recommend improvements."
Eight patients have escaped from the hospital a total of 10 times since Jan. 1, he said. They included a man charged with murder 30 years ago, and several others with histories of violence. Many patients have been sent to the hospital after criminal courts found them unfit to stand trial.
Anderson said the 16 escapes last year were below the national average for such institutions. No one who escaped during the past two years is unaccounted for, he said.
"Every incident is a serious concern," Anderson said. "We will evaluate the need for additional security measures after we have looked at the system as it is now. But we are not a prison. We are a treatment facility."
