SAN FRANCISCO—The family of a woman found dead in a stairwell over two weeks after disappearing from her hospital room has been rewarded a $3 million settlement by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Lynne Spalding’s body was discovered in October 2013 by a building engineer working in San Francisco’s General Hospital. Spalding, 57, was receiving treatment for a bladder infection and was disoriented after leaving her hospital quarters.
The stairwell were Spalding was found was 99 yards away from her room and locked from the inside. Her death was attributed to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance probably caused by alcohol abuse.
The city of San Francisco will pay Spalding’s family $2.94 million and the University of California will pay $59,000. The University of California was responsible for their end of the settlement because Spalding was in the care of their medical professionals.
