SAN FRANCISCO — Authorities have located a “medically at-risk” patient who walked out of San Francisco General Hospital following a surgery.
Valerie Gates, 34, walked out of the facility on Jan. 30 with a bandage around her neck. Hospital officials were concerned because Gates was in need of vital post-operative medication, CBS San Francisco reports.
The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, which provides security for the hospital, located Gates and returned her for treatment on Jan. 31 around 10:25 a.m.
Hospital officials are crediting newly implemented policies for finding Gates so quickly. San Francisco General Hospital put the policies in place following the death of Lynne Spalding, a patient at the facility, who was found dead in a hospital stairwell two weeks after the patient went missing.
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