Politicians demand changes to patient release rules after woman’s disappearance
Posted May 7, 2012 04:38:38 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Nova Scotia’s opposition parties say the NDP should take immediate action after another patient failed to return to the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth.
Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil and Tory Leader Jamie Baillie say the public has a right to know when someone goes missing.
Capital Health announced late Monday afternoon that Amy Ogilvie, 21, left the hospital on a two-hour pass Friday evening and hasn’t returned.
The incident comes less than a month after another patient at the hospital failed to return from a one-hour pass.
Andre Denny, 32, is now charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of Raymond Taavel.
HRM councillor Dawn Sloane tells News 95-7, she’s written to the justice minister urging him to review the rules around patient release.
“I said, a friend of mine died because someone dropped the ball,” she said. “I then explained that if we were going to have such cases where an individual’s allowed out, with or without an escort, they have to take more precautions. Right from the get-go, if someone has a mental illness, it needs to be assessed properly and treated properly for that individual.”
The circumstances surrounding Denny’s release are under review and Justice Minister Ross Landry has said he won’t make any changes until that review is complete.
The release from Capital Health states that Doctors are worried that Ogilvie’s risk to herself and others may increase the longer she’s away from treatment.
Anyone who knows where she might be found is asked to contact police.
