HELENA – A Montana mental health hospital has temporarily stopped taking admissions following the death of a teenage patient who ran from the facility.
The Independent Record reports a 15-year-old Missoula girl ran onto Interstate 15 and was hit by a pickup after she fled from the Shodair Children’s Hospital in Helena on Monday.
Hospital officials say the girl tampered with the building’s fire alarm, causing the doors to unlock.
Hospital CEO Craig Aasved says therapists have contacted patients’ parents and guardians to alert them to the death.
Aasved says a team of spiritual care providers also will be available to the facility’s 71 patients and 350 employees.
He says the hospital has reported to death to state and federal agencies and it’s conducting an internal investigation.