South Carolina mental health facility cited after Hawaii patient’s suicide
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A South Carolina mental health facility where a Hawaii patient died by suicide last November is being cited for withholding records related to his death, according to a report from the South Carolina Department of Public Health.
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Payton Hough died at Columbia Regional Care Center apparently by suicide last November, and HNN Investigates has been following the case for eight months. The report from the South Carolina state investigators is the first official information from any of the government agencies responsible for Hough’s care or investigating his death.
What the report found
South Carolina health investigators made an unannounced visit to Columbia Regional Care Center on April 24. During the visit, they toured the facility, interviewed three managers, and reviewed staffing reports from the day Hough died.
Investigators found the facility had already failed to submit a required report within one week of the incident. When investigators asked for additional records, the report said, “The Administrator stated that this incident has made the news recently and all Patient A’s records including his/her incident report were sent to the facility law office for security. Patient A’s incident report for 11/25/25 was not kept on site and readily available on the day of investigation.”
The state’s law requires records to be retained and available at the facility in case investigators visit.
The report, updated Monday, states the state still had not received a plan to correct the violation from the company. It asks the facility to submit a plan of correction by Thursday, July 9.
Attorney: ‘No supervision, no accountability’
Attorney Eric Seitz is suing the state of Hawaii for the Hough family over its decision to send Hough to the South Carolina facility. Hough had been involved in violent incidents at the Hawaii State Hospital and at Oahu Community Correctional Center, for which he was acquitted because of his mental illness.
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“They send people off to the mainland, and they just forget about them,” Seitz said.
Seitz said stonewalling is common in cases like this.
“When something happens, everybody panics, but they don’t really do anything,” he said.
He said the withholding of records reflects a broader pattern.
“When suicides occur, or something occurs, it is largely because there’s no supervision, there’s no accountability, and after the fact, when people ask for explanations, we have this kind of situation reoccur, where they don’t have the information,” Seitz said.
Seitz said the state of Hawaii should act on what the report reveals.
“It obviously raises questions, and if that’s the kind of problem, and that’s the kind of response that people get when they do ask questions, then frankly, Hawaii ought to terminate its relationship right away,” he said.
Hawaii’s response
Sources say the Hawaii Department of Health sent two hospital executives to South Carolina to visit the facility. The department has not publicly addressed the case, citing patient privacy.
Officials told Hawaii News Now the state pays approximately $1.8 million per year to house seven patients at the facility but would not say whether they are reconsidering that arrangement.
Read more South Carolina mental health facility cited after Hawaii patient’s suicide
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