Posted on 10/09/2013 8:01:13 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A little more than two weeks after a 57-year-old patient disappeared San Francisco General Hospital, hospital officials on Wednesday confirmed they were "fairly certain" the body found in a stairwell this week was that of Lynne Spalding.
Though the hospital did not confirm the identity 100 percent, Spalding's daughter told a family friend that the body was her mother's.
Still, despite the announcement at a news conference, questions swirled about how Spalding a British native who worked in hospitality sales could have ended up in a remote stairwell on the fourth floor. Spalding had entered the hospital on Sept. 19 with a urinary tract infection, and was last seen on Sept. 21. A friend said she had been feeling disoriented on her medication, but a doctor on Wednesday said her condition had been improving.
"We have no idea how this happened," Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Todd May. "We are shaken to our core. What happened at the hospital is horrible. Our staff is devastated.
Hospital staff and sheriff's deputies took no questions from reporters, and did not explain the circumstances of her death, including the timing until Tuesday morning when she was found by a member of the engineering staff on a routine check 17 days after she walked off from her hospital room. Authorities also did not offer an explanation as to how a missing patient could be lost for more than two weeks only to be found dead in a hospital stairwell. The stairwell is a fire exit that has an alarm on it, and is locked from the outside and exits onto hospital grounds.
A nurse who first spotted Spalding missing from her room alerted the proper authorities more than two weeks ago, prompting San Francisco sheriff's deputies to searched the hospital, authorities said.
But a family spokesperson said he is "perplexed" as to how Spalding remained missing for so long if these searches had been conducted. He lauded the hospital as "stellar" but had biting words for his friend's disappearance.
"Lynne Spalding died alone in a stairwell and her body had been there for 17 days," said David Perry, a family friend.
Perry, clearly angry about the circumstances of his friend's death, also noted that it took 10 days for the hospital to issue a statement about the fact that a patient had gone missing in the first place. He was among the many friends and family who spent countless hours searching for her, putting up fliers and sharing her story on social media, including on a FIND LYNNE Facebook page.
Perry said Spalding's boyfriend "is devastated" and her daughter "is beyond words" by the loss, though the two were not in attendance at the conference.
Perry said he appreciated that the hospital came forward so quickly with the news on Spalding, but he said he's not satisfied yet with the information that's been presented.
This is a nightmare," Perry said. "Steps must be taken to make sure this never happens again."
SEIU is busy having illegal immigrant rallies at the National Mall.
and what about the mutt that was supposed to CLEAN that stairwell???
I would also question why they could not ascertain where she went from video surveillance. I have been in a number of hospitals in recent years due to aging/ill relatives and they have friggin cameras everywhere. I sure would not be lauding the hospital as “stellar”. There are a lot of things that have a definite stink about this.
"Big Elevator" is to blame. No one takes the stairs anymore - why else would her body go unnoticed for weeks?
Otis did it.
A print article said that opening a door to the stairwell triggers an alarm, and nobody heard anything!
This type of thing was in a movie called “The Hospital” many years ago.
It was a comedy-—because that type of thing would never happen. I guess they were wrong.
.
San Fransicko? The hospital staff was probably having sex with the body for the past couple weeks.
That movie portrayed Obamacare.
It was supposed to be fiction.
nor does the hospital have the right or the responsibility to try to find and catch people leaving....its illegal and its impossible...
this woman went out a seldom used stairwell....perhaps it locked from within somehow and she sat out there for the entire two weeks....perhaps she was hiding beneath the stairs where she wouldn't be seen....
BUT if you do want hospitals to prevent people from ever leading per the govt orders, I 'm sure obammay has it in his master plan..I'm sure we'd all like to be forced to take treatment in a "facility" because its for our own good.....
Guess they ran out of empty beds.
Wife works there. It’s the major public hospital where they take all the
‘Public sector patients’. She says its both crazy and scary at same time. Always takes elevator. Has had numerous crazy stories. This hospital is down by the bad bad sections of SF. Old huge crazy building built 120 yrs ago
Has Halloween written all over it.
Still this poor woman deserved better.
Very true. I've been in that hospital many times, it's old, it's huge, and the politics stink. I worked there for several years many years ago. As a kid, I got admitted there for various injuries. One time for a broken finger and wrist, I waited over an hour in pain in the hallway for someone to see me. Another time my bicycle collided with a truck, and I held a bloody towel to my head for about an hour and a half; I got 13 stitches. They fix things, it's just busy and crazy there. When I grew up I went elsewhere for treatment.
Either that, or the poor woman tried signing up for Obamacare and became so frustrated by continuing to be shut out, gave up and ended it all, ahead of the death panels.
The Age Of Irresponsibility. It’s nobody’s fault. Never is.
“Right now, we are exploring implementing positive measures to ensure that unfortunate occurrences like this neeeever happens again.” (And now let’s all forget it, especially you over there little miss perfect who I guess has never made a mistake in her life), always says the spokesman who drew the short straw.
Dead patient in the hospital stairwell has been there over two weeks covered in maggots? Bah, that’ll blow over in a day or so. Not to worry, we’ll take about three minutes of pain on the 11 o’clock news then they’ll go right to sports and weather with Chip Stormgale. Maybe the news will cover this again nine months from now when our insurance settles out of court.
Nobody ever loses their job no matter what happens, unless somebody says something that’s construed to be racist.
ok, obamacare is the worst thing to happen to the United States of America, but how in the world can you claim that the death of this woman is the direct result of obamacare since she died before it was implemented? I understand your premise, but zerocare began to kick in 10/1 and this poor woman was dead before that date.
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