Hawaii State Hospital administrator William May said seven employees were put on 30-day unpaid leave following the escape of a patient, according to KHON.
Randall Saito, who was committed after being found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, escaped from the Kaneohe-based psychiatric facility Sunday morning. After taking a private flight to Maui and boarding another flight to San Jose, Calif., Mr. Saito was captured Wednesday in Stockton, Calif.
Mr. May recently addressed the incident at a Kanoehe Neighborhood Board meeting, saying staff should have been keeping a watch on the facility area and known
Mr. Saito was missing, according to the report.
"Can I give you an assurance that this will never happen again? No. I'm sorry, I can't," he added in the report. "It's a psychiatric hospital. It's not a prison, and anything shy of caging the entire campus in… Patients have to be able to be given the level of privilege that is clinically appropriate. They have to be able to show to a judge that yes, I can handle this responsibility in a proper way so that I can work my way toward discharge."
KHON reports Mr. May went on to note the seven employees who were suspended without pay. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.