HONOLULU (AP) - Officials behind plans for a new Hawaii State Hospital said the future facility will be more secure, safer for staff and better suited for patients with mental health issues.
Artist renderings for the new $140 million Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe were unveiled at a news conference earlier this week, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported .
The four-story hospital will span over 170,000 square feet (15,793 square meters) and hold 144 beds.
The hospital is expected to open in 2021.
The new building will replace the Goddard building that was demolished in 2016 and bring Hawaii State Hospital’s total capacity up to 252.
The facility’s design will make it possible for one person to monitor an entire floor leaving hospital staff free to focus on their jobs, architects and designers said.
All doors can be managed by a single person working in a “control booth,” they said.
Other security features include a single entrance and exit at the front of the building for staff and visitors and a 16-foot (5-meter) “anti-climb fence” that curves inward will surround the rear of the building.
“This perimeter is very reliable so that nobody’s going to spend all their time thinking, ’How do I get out of there?’” Joel Dvoskin said, a design consultant on the project.
In addition to the security features, Bill May, administrator for Hawaii State Hospital, said 17 policies and procedures are under review and staff have received new training in response to an incident last November where Randall Saito - who was committed to the hospital after being found not guilty by reason of insanity of a woman’s 1979 killing - escaped from hospital before he was found and apprehended in California.
Saito was indicted earlier this month.
The hospital has been taking proactive measures since the incident, May said.
Staff members have received training on “proper boundaries” with patients.
“What happened in November will not happen with this facility,” May said.
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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com
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