Washington state officials have increased safety and security measures at Western State Hospital in Longwood, Wash., after two psychiatric patients escaped and another two went missing, according to The Seattle Times.
The Washington Department of Social and Health Services is boosting security in the hospital's civil-commitment area, where the two patients who escaped had been recently transferred to from the criminal section of the facility.
The patients who escaped are Anthony Garver, 28, who was accused of torturing a 20-year-old woman to death in 2013, and Mark Alexander Adams, 58, who was sent to the hospital to receive treatment on a domestic violence arrest. The patients broke out of the hospital Wednesday night by crawling out a window of a locked, lower-security unit.
Mr. Adams was caught the following day, while Mr. Garver remained at-large until being recaptured Friday night.
Two other patients took "unescorted leaves" from Western State, according to the report. One was on an escorted outing on campus and has not been found, and the other was approved for discharge and awaiting community placement but did not return from a visit to a fast-food restaurant. Local police found him Saturday.
Carla Reyes, assistant secretary for the DSHS' Behavioral Health Administration, told The Seattle Times that escapes are rare, but unauthorized leaves are not.
"However, two unauthorized leaves and two escapes in one week is unacceptable, and immediate steps are being taken to improve security at the facility and to retrain staff," Ms. Reyes said in a statement. "The safety of the public, the patients and staff is paramount."
To address safety concerns, Western State restricted patient movement on the grounds of and outside the hospital for the weekend, DSHS temporarily revoked all off-site privileges and deployed additional security to the facility, and federal regulators will continue conducting a safety review with the help of outside experts.
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