Hawaii's new forensic hospital building is set to open after more than a year of delays
The Associated Press reported on April 5, 2022 that the Hawaii State Hospital's new Kaneohe facility would admit patients in roughly two weeks. Construction had been finished in early 2021 and the fire department had issued its occupancy certificate in February of that year, but the opening slipped by more than a year. The department cited unwritten policies and procedures, trouble recruiting staff, physical issues such as shower floors and door hardware, and staff stretched by pandemic operations at the older buildings.
A deputy director of behavioral health acknowledged policy work should have started earlier. The hospital's population is people ordered there by courts after alleged crimes, and courts also use it for evaluating defendants' fitness before trial.
The opening added 144 beds to a forensic system that Civil Beat would later report was again over licensed capacity.
Source: New Hawaiʻi State Hospital facility to open in Kāneʻohe after delays — Hawaiʻi Public Radio (Associated Press), by The Associated Press
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