Patients pack facility after budget cuts

The health director believes reduced services in 2009 contributed to the overcrowding

By Mary Vorsino

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 04, 2012

~~<p>Because of a sharp increase in the number of patients at the Hawaii State Hospital, the state is restoring some mental health services that were cut in 2009 and is working to keep severely mentally ill patients off arrest logs.</p>
<p>Overcrowding at the Kaneohe facility, the only state-run psychiatric hospital in the islands, grew so acute during the summer that the governor convened a task force to deal with the problem.</p>
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Because of a sharp increase in the number of patients at the Hawaii State Hospital, the state is restoring some mental health services that were cut in 2009 and is working to keep severely mentally ill patients off arrest logs.

Overcrowding at the Kaneohe facility, the only state-run psychiatric hospital in the islands, grew so acute during the summer that the governor convened a task force to deal with the problem. Login for more...