Bill Text: HI HR43 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Department of Health; Department of Public Safety; Feasibility Study; Hawaii State Hospital's Forensic Unit

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-28 - The committee(s) on HLT/PBS recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [HR43 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-HR43-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	43
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting a study on the feasibility and safety benefits of relocating the Hawaii State Hospital's planned forensic unit to the correctional facility planned to be built on oahu.

 

 

 

WHEREAS, the Hawaii State Hospital is located on the Windward side of the island of Oahu, within a highly populated area and immediately adjacent to Windward Community College; and

 

WHEREAS, the mission of the Hawaii State Hospital is to provide safe, integrated, evidence-based psychiatric assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation to individuals suffering from brain, medical, and behavioral disorders who were primarily court ordered to the hospital, including those who have committed a violent crime and declared innocent by reason of insanity; and

 

WHEREAS, over the years there have been numerous patients who have fled from the Hawaii State Hospital and there have been incidents of the staff being harassed or abused by the patients at the facility; and

 

WHEREAS, since the Hawaii State Hospital is on the verge of constructing a new forensic facility and the Department of Public Safety, Corrections Division, is contemplating constructing a new correctional facility on the island of Oahu, it would be beneficial to have the proposed Hawaii State Hospital's forensic unit relocated within the planned correctional facility for the safety of the general public, the faculty and students at Windward Community College, among other members of the surrounding community, and the staff of the Hawaii State Hospital; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, that the Department of Health is urged to conduct a feasibility study, in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety, to determine whether relocating the Hawaii State Hospital's forensic unit to the proposed correctional facility planned for Oahu is economical and creates a safer environment for the hospital staff, the surrounding communities, and the general public; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study shall address:

 

     (1)  For reasons of functionality, whether the new state hospital forensic unit should be placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health or the Department of Public Safety, Corrections Division; and

 

     (2)  Whether the forensic unit shall be staffed not only by members of the Hawaii State Hospital to provide the necessary health and mental care to the patients, but also be staffed by members of the Department of Public Safety, Corrections Division, to provide a safe and secure environment; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that that the Department of Health in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety shall submit a report on its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Director of Health, and the Director of Public Safety.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Department of Health; Department of Public Safety; Feasibility Study; Hawaii State Hospital's Forensic Unit