Friday, November 24, 2017

State Hospital Escape of Mr. Saito

William May, Administrator, Hawaii State Hospital, responding to the Kaneohe Neighborhood Board at the 11/16/17 Neighborhood Board Meeting

Mr. Saito’s escape should never have happened.

An investigation is under way and until that is complete we will not know the details behind how Mr. Saito got to California. We do know that Mr. Saito caught a cab from Kaneohe to a private airstrip where he boarded a charter flight to Maui. He flew from Maui to California. Obviously his trip was well planned and paid for in advance.

There was a delay before the State Hospital recognized that Mr. Saito had not returned to his unit as scheduled. He had on-grounds privileges. He did not check in hourly as required. Seven staff members are under investigation and have been placed on 30 days leave without pay.

Security procedures are under review. Mr. Saito had achieved the privilege of being on the hospital grounds without supervision. He did not check in with staff when he was required to do so. The Board and the public expressed strong concern that the required reporting failures were ignored resulting in an unacceptable delay in notifying the authorities.

The public must understand that the Hawaii State Hospital is not a prison. It is a psychiatric hospital. Their mission is to help their patients become integrated into the community as productive citizens. Patients earn privileges as they show they can be responsible citizens in the hospital. Those privileges include supervised visits to local churches and recreational visits within our community. Patients can earn higher privileges based on their behavior at their current privilege level and on a periodic psychiatric review. Mr. Saito had been at the State Hospital for nearly 40 years and had achieved the second highest level of privilege.

Mr. May asked the Board and the Community to participate in providing ideas for improvement. The community was most concerned about their safety. The press portrayed Mr. Saito as a dangerous person intent on repeating his original horrific crime at the first opportunit. Many people were  frightened.

Mr. May has surveyed his peers at hospitals throughout the western states for information on how they notify both the public and the authorities about patient escapes.

Community suggestions ranged from leg irons and ankle bracelets to a wailing siren or a bullhorn. One citizen complained about the Nextel warning being inadequate because not everyone had a smart phone.

  • -Board member Cypher wants to know if the hospital can be moved to Halawa.
  • May responded that new facility is projected to be completed by 2021 on the site of the former Goddard building.
  • -Accountability, Chair Radke asked how the community can feel safer about the hospital.
    Mr. May respond that there have been fewer escapes in recent years. He added that one escape is one too many. May emphasized that the notification system worked as planned. The breakdown was in not recognizing there was a problem sooner.
  • -Gloria asked about federal mandates to allow patients individualized treatment.
    May responded, only patients who show over time that you are a Good Citizen at the facility can gain privileges. Patients have to show a track record of improvement to get privileges.
  • -John Long asked about patients he sees in the community.
    Mr. May responded, people you see at the bus stop are not hospital patients.
  • -Bob Weback, we need a timely warning when things go wrong.
    Nextel warnings don’t work, I’m not of the generation that sleeps with my phone. Can we get a warning sign that comes on when there is an escape.
  • -Nancy, asked when was Mr Saito last evaluated? Specific patient information is private.
  • -What happens when he comes back here?
    May: he will be extradited to Hawaii; to OCCC, if he is fit to stand trial, he will. If not, he will be returned to the State Hospital. He could serve an additional 5 years if convicted. When he serves his time for escape and if he is deemed unfit to stand trail for his original crime he will return to the state hospital. 
  • -Daniel expressed concern that it took ten hours to get the word out,
    We need more than security fences, at the heart of the situation is a breach of trust. What assurances do we have that this will never happen again.
  • May: It did not take ten hours. The notification went out as soon as we knew Mr. Saito had violated the terms of his on-grounds privileges. Can I give you an assurance it won’t happen again, no I can’t.
  • -Alice Lee: Why don’t the patients have uniforms. Why don’t they use a bull horn.
    May: the goal of a hospital is to normalize the patients. 
  • -Dr Oxford, prof at the college: My concern is safety of students. Girls were crying, their Moms afraid to let them come to school.

The hospital cannot release any information about the patient, not even their name. Only the HPD can do that. Mr. May agrees there must be a better way to get information to the public and is looking for ways to get the word out more quickly.

Chair Radke thanked Mr. May for coming. “We know it pains you to have to deal with this.” Mo thanked the community for being civil.

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