A man died Monday after jumping out of a fifth floor window of a patient room at Crouse Hospital.
Police received a call at approximately 4:42 p.m. indicating a man had jumped from a window of an unused section of the Syracuse, N.Y., hospital’s Memorial unit, reports Syracuse.com.
When emergency crews arrived, the man was reported to be in “very critical condition”. He was then taken next door to Upstate University Hospital where he later died from his injuries, said Syracuse police spokesman Sergeant Richard Helterline.
The man had been seen and discharged from Crouse Hospital’s emergency room earlier in the day.
The man subsequently entered the unused section on the north end of the building’s fifth floor, which hospital vice president Bob Allen said is not a locked unit because it is used as needed for patient care. It is also not unusual, said Allen, for visitors to be on the fifth floor because the south end of the floor is open and used for patient care.
The window of the room was secured but appeared to have been tampered with, although the glass was not smashed, added Allen.
The hospital’s communication director, Cheryl Abrams, wrote in an email that the hospital is “evaluating security and patient/staff safety processes and procedures, as we do on a continual basis.” The hospital reported the incident to the state Health Department.
The Syracuse Police Department, which is investigating the incident, believes the unidentified man jumped with the intent to commit suicide.
“At this time, this is not considered a criminal investigation,” said Helterline.
