On Oct. 8, Jerald Constantine died of heart failure at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. His family did not find out until 10 days later, after frantically searching for him.
Constantine, a dialysis patient who would have been 48 on Nov. 11, died after seeking treatment at the hospital. The Alameda County Coroner's Office listed the cause of death as cardiopulmonary arrest.
The family was notified of his death Oct. 18, and held his funeral Monday.
"We were really, really worried. We had sleepless nights worrying about him," Constantine's niece Karen Benjamin-Dozier said.