Joint Commission re-accredits Hawaii hospital despite patient escape 2 months ago

Alyssa Rege -

The Joint Commission granted Kaneohe-based Hawaii State Hospital re-accreditation for another three years, Hawaii News Now reports.

Hawaii State Department of Health officials said The Joint Commission conducted three facility surveys between August 2017 and January 2018 and determined the psychiatric hospital operates within the standards necessary for re-accreditation.

The hospital's re-accreditation status comes two months after an inmate escaped the facility and was on the run from authorities for four days before being captured in California. Seven employees were placed on unpaid leave from the hospital as a result of the incident.

"[The inmate's escape] was a major breakdown in our Hawaii State Hospital protocols, procedures and guidelines. In this case, there was fault on our side and we're doing what we can to address the issues that allowed that to happen," Hawaii Department of Health Director Virginia Pressler, MD, said in November.

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