Hawaii State Hospital Unveils Gleaming New 144-Bed Facility With A Dark Legacy…The new facility will be safer for both staff and patients, officials said.
Four years ago, the Hawaii State Hospital made international headlines after patient Randall Saito walked out of the psychiatric facility, caught a taxi and flew to Maui and then California before he was even reported missing.
His escape underscored that the state’s only psychiatric facility wasn’t built for patients like Saito, who were committed to the hospital by the courts.
Gov. David Ige’s administration unveiled a new facility on Wednesday that was designed to solve that problem and house patients who are subject to court-ordered psychiatric care.
