Four patients in two separate incidents this week escaped from the Westwood Lodge Hospital, an inpatient mental health and substance abuse facility.
Three 17-year-old girls ran away from the psychiatric hospital around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, got in a cab on Sherman's Way and had the driver take them to the Norwood bus station, Westwood Police Detective Paul Toland said.
Norwood Police found the girls at the station and returned them to the hospital.
The girls were outside for recreation and were supervised by several staff members who alerted the police when they "eloped," the hospital's term for patients who leave without permission.
Spokeswoman Judy Merel said the hospital would "probably not" increase security measures following the incident. "The physician had reviewed those adolescents and there was no indication that they would elope," she said.
Norwood Police also returned a 20-year-old man to the hospital around 10:10 p.m. Sunday, about 50 minutes after he ran from the facility while he was taking a cigarette break.
On Monday night a 17-year-old boy was with his mother on leave from the hospital when he ran away from her, Merel said.
The mother returned the boy to the hospital around 2:27 a.m. the next morning, but neither Merel nor Toland knew the circumstances surrounding that incident.
"If they return voluntarily, we don't do any investigation as far as where they went and what they did as long as their activities don't rise to the level of criminal interest," Toland said.
All five patients had permission to be outside or on leave and do not pose a safety risk to the public, Merel said.
Including the three incidents this week, there have been eight escapes involving 10 people so far this year.
Toland said that the escapes seem to be getting more frequent, while Merel said there have been fewer this year than in previous years.
Neither could provide numbers from other years.
At any given time the hospital, which treats children, adolescents and adults, has between 80 and 85 patients, Merel said.
The average stay is 10 days, although patients who are waiting to be placed in other facilities often stay longer, she said.
The recreation area is fenced in, but it is more for privacy purposes than to prevent patients from escaping, Merel said.
Lindsey Parietti can be reached at lindsey.parietti@cnc.com.
