Sen. Rush's Office in Favor of Panic Buttons at Westwood Lodge

John Regan, Chief of Staff for State Sen. Mike Rush, has testified in favor of legislation that would require Westwood Lodge employees to be equipped with panic buttons in the event of an emergency.

Regan, , said in a statement Tuesday that the bill would require operators of Westwood Lodge and other residential mental health treatment facilities to have the buttons available, as they would provide an extra measure of security to those employees, he said.

While the bill looks to ensure employee safety at Westwood Lodge and other facilities, it would also aim to manage the risk of patient escapes and work to mitigate the negative impacts of those escapes around Westwood.

"This bill is another tool to help staff members when dangerous situations arise," Regan told Westwood Patch Tuesday afternoon. "I took it as a good opportunity to expand it into escapes or elopements, so these devices can be used; if this happens, (employees) can return the individual in a more timely manner."

The bill follows suit with a recent move to heighten security at Westwood Lodge, as current security assessments are being conducted at the facility.

This past spring, Westwood officials agreed to after accumulating reports of escaped patients, notably a patient that escaped from the grounds of the hospital, and subsequently broke into two houses in the area.

The Westwood Board of Selectmen approved the measure, and Westwood Police Chief William Chase has since been meeting with a task force at the hospital as well as Westwood Lodge CEO Gregory Brownstein to evaluate how to improve security at the facility. Regan has also participated in the meetings, he said.

Westwood Lodge subsequently hired Liability Consultants, Inc. to conduct the evaluations of the area, and Chase said he expects a draft form of an evaluation report to be completed by mid-October.

Earlier this month, Chase said that ; last September, Westwood Police received reports of about 20 patients that had fled or walked away from the facility. This year to date, only about five reports have been received, Chase told the Board of Selectmen this month.

Meanwhile, State Rep. Paul McMurtry (D-Dedham) addressed the issue on May 2 at the Massachusetts State House, where he hosted a meeting with local and Westwood Lodge officials to discuss recent escapes from the building, according to Regan's statement on Tuesday.

“I want to publicly acknowledge Police Chief Chase, Fire Chief Scoble, Town Administrator Mike Jaillet, the Board of Selectmen and New Westwood Lodge CEO Greg Brownstein for their continual efforts in addressing the concerns of the community,” Regan said in the statement. “The steady and professional communication between many local, state and Lodge officials has been a main reason we have seen some positive results.”

As for the current legislation, Regan said he and the task force are waiting on the security assessment of the facility to be conducted.

"The next step is we're going to be awaiting the internal report from Westwood Lodge," Regan said Tuesday. "We've been meeting regularly with the task force and decided the next step would be to get a draft from that report."