Vigil honors social worker fatally stabbed at San Francisco General Hospital
Vigil honors social worker fatally stabbed at San Francisco General Hospital
Colleagues and friends gathered Sunday night outside Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital to honor Alberto Rangel, identified by coworkers as the UCSF social worker who died after being stabbed by a patient last week.
SAN FRANCISCO - Colleagues and friends gathered Sunday night outside Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital to honor Alberto Rangel, identified by coworkers as the UCSF social worker who died after being stabbed by a patient last week.
Attendees lit candles, shared memories and called on the hospital to strengthen worker safety protections.
"He changed people’s lives. There are people alive today because of him," said Maddy Auble, a colleague and mentee of Rangel’s. "For him to lose his life at work, when he was there to provide services to patients, is not right."
Rangel died over the weekend after he was attacked Thursday at the hospital’s Ward 86 HIV care clinic.
San Francisco police identified the suspect as 34-year-old Wilfredo Arriechi, who was arrested shortly after the stabbing.
"He murdered my co-worker in front of all of us," said Auble. "He just stood there and looked at everything he had done."
Victim dies after stabbing at San Francisco General Hospital
Authorities said that, less than 10 minutes before the stabbing, hospital staff had requested additional security for a doctor at the HIV clinic who was threatened by a patient.
The San Francisco Sheriff's Office said less than 10 minutes before the attack, a sheriff’s deputy had been called to the clinic because a patient, believed to be Arriechi, had threatened a doctor.
"The patient that took Alberto’s life was actually somebody he warned me about," said Auble. "We knew that he was aggressive."
Auble described Rangel as someone who went above and beyond for his colleagues and patients.
"He helped everyone, and treated everyone with love and absolute care," said Auble.
Rangel offered free therapy sessions, said Auble, and ran support groups in English and Spanish.
Outside of his work as a social worker, he was known as an artist, an athlete and someone with a sharp sense of humor, and sharp fashion sense.
"You would never think Prada and a social worker would be two things that go together," said Auble. "But he was just such a unique character."
Colleagues said the tragedy underscores long-standing concerns about safety inside the hospital.
"Social workers have been raising the alarm about safety for years, to be met with radio silence," said Chey Dean, a UCSF staff research associate and union representative.
In a statement Sunday, the San Francisco Department of Public Health promised a "top-to-bottom investigation" into possible security vulnerabilities. The department said it will increase sheriff’s deputies and security staff in the building where the attack occurred and expedite installation of metal detectors. The hospital also plans to implement metal-detection wanding in the interim.
"Alberto was there to help, and he was failed," said Auble. "He was failed by DPH, he was failed by the hospital, he was failed by management."
Vigils in Rangel’s honor are planned each night this week in front of the hospital.