Hiding behind HIPAA? No public warning after mental patient escapes

NAPLES, Fla.- WINK News is pressing for answers after a security scare in downtown Naples. Police say a mental patient with violent tendencies escaped but the hospital would not confirm the event happened citing HIPAA law.

Around 1:30 a.m. Monday, Naples police went on a desperate search for the missing patient. Police say he escaped from the fifth floor of NCH in downtown Naples.

“He was in the hospital because he was trying to harm himself,” said Lt. John Barkley. “Whether or not he was a harm to others, that is why it was important to get him back in a facility.”

Witnesses say the patient was armed with a needle but the public never got a warning about the situation. Police received a picture and the man’s name but said they couldn’t release it due to HIPAA law. The law protects patient’s medical privacy.

The man was caught seven hours after his escape still in his hospital gown. He was found near 5th Avenue N. and 10th Street North, just a few blocks from the hospital.

“They had a guy on the ground. I don’t know if they tackled him or tased him or what they had to do,” sid Bing Terrio who saw police find the man. “They put him in an ambulance and took him away.”

WINK News reached out to an attorney who deals with healthcare issues. We wanted to know if the community should have been alerted.

“One, I don’t think HIPAA applies to a situation where they feel the public is at risk,” said Leland Garvin of Garvin Law.

Garvin says there is a special exception memo filed by the Department of Human Services. ”

“It would allow a hospital to release information in the case you are speaking of,” said Garvin.

WINK News also reached out to NCH about the facts. A spokesperson couldn’t even confirm the event took place and instead said “per HIPAA law, we have no information regarding your inquiry.”

The patient was originally at NCH after police say he tried to harm himself and then ran from officers.