A search is underway for a patient who disappeared from the Centre for Addiction and Health while on a pass.

Police say that 59-year-old Robert McNamara was last seen at the medical facility in the Queen Street West and Ossington Avenue area on Friday afternoon at around 1:30 p.m.

The disappearance is the latest in a series of incidents involving patients from CAMH, though in a statement the hospital noted that McNamara is receiving treatment on a voluntary basis and had not been placed into its custody by the courts.

“Many of our patients are voluntary and come to CAMH for treatment and support so they can recover. As part of their recovery plan, voluntary patients are given opportunities to demonstrate how far along in their recovery they are by exercising passes into the community,” the statement notes.

“In a case where a patient does not return for one of these passes, and a physician is concerned for their safety and well-being, the physician can issue a ‘form 1’ under the Mental Health Act, which starts a process of working with police to find a patient so they can be cared for at CAMH."

"During these times of concern for voluntary patients, our primary focus remains on the safety of the patient themselves.”

CAMH is currently conducting an external review of its practices and policies around the issuance of passes to its forensic patients, who by definition are ones who have been found Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) for an offence or unfit to stand trial.

The review was ordered after 47-year-old Zhebin Cong fled the country on July 3 while on a day pass from the centre. Cong had previously been found NCR in the fatal stabbing of his roommate in 2014.

In its statement issued on Saturday, CAMH said that “too many people feel the stigma associated with mental illness” and noted that “suggestions that all people experiencing mental illness are a public safety threat further contributes to that stigma.”

“We are committed to doing the important work on the frontline to treat people with the most serious mental illnesses while also working together with our partners, communities and government to combat mental health stigma because mental health is health,” the statement reads.

McNamara is described as white, about five-foot-seven with a thin build, salt/pepper hair, a full beard, a receding hairline and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a navy-blue t-shirt, black pants, and flip flops.

Police say that citizens should not approach him in the event that they see him and should instead call 911.