A suspect who was in the custody of the Horry County Police Department escaped from Conway Medical Center Monday evening.

As a result, nearby Kingston Nursing Center was locked down while police searched for the man, according to Conway Medical Center Spokeswoman Julie Rajotte. The nursing home is located behind the hospital's Medical Arts facility at the corner of Myrtle Trace Drive and Cypress Drive off Singleton Ridge Road.

Rajotte said the lockdown was lifted at about 9:30pm after a police canine unit did not pick up any scent there.

At 4:24 p.m., the suspect, whose name has not been released, was taken to the hospital's emergency room for testing, Rajotte said. While diagnostic tests were being performed, the man was released from restraints and then bolted from the hospital at 7:04.

Because of his direction of travel, the nursing center was placed on a precautionary lockdown.

Police officers tried to book the man at J. Reuben Long Detention Center earlier Monday afternoon, but jail officials rejected the inmate and instead directed the police officers to take him to the hospital for evaluation, the jail's director Tom Fox said.

Because of federal privacy laws, Fox was unable to provide information regarding the inmate's medical condition.

Horry County Police Sgt. Robert Kegler said his department was unable to "substantiate" anything as of 8:20 p.m.

Stay with CarolinaLive.com and NewsChannel 15 at 11 for more on this developing story.