Alberto Rangel, social worker stabbed to death by patient at San Francisco hospital decried as predictable and preventable as workers and police condemn recent efforts to relax security.
A social worker stabbed to death at a San Francisco hospital where they supported individuals living with HIV and AIDs has led to colleagues and officials expressing outrage in what they decried as ‘predictable and preventable.’
Alberto Rangel, 51, was attacked inside the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital‘s (ZSFGH) HIV Ward – where there are no metal detectors – on Thursday afternoon, December 4th just on 1.30 p.m.
Hospital staff had requested security for Rangel who had received threats from an unhinged patient, identified as Wilfredo Tortolero Arriechi, 34, after the suspect, sneaking a 5 inch kitchen knife into the facility.
‘Predictable and preventable death’
‘While providing security for the doctor, our sheriff’s deputy heard a disturbance unfolding in the hallway involving the suspect, who was attacking a social worker,’ SFCSO investigators said. ‘The deputy intervened immediately, restraining the suspect and securing the scene.’
The devoted social worker’s death left colleagues outraged – as they believe the medical worker’s killing was preventable.
‘Alberto was there to help, and he was failed,’ Maddy Auble, who worked closely with him in the HIV clinic, told ABC 7 at a candlelight vigil in his honor on Sunday.
‘He was failed by [the Department of Public Health] DPH, he was failed by the hospital and he was failed by management. My coworkers asked for help.’
‘The patient that took Alberto’s life was actually somebody he warned me about,’ Auble told the outlet. ‘We knew that he was aggressive.’
Auble said she had seen the patient several times before Thursday’s fatal stabbing.
Hospital and city officials besieged with demands for security review
Another co-worker, Julette Suarez, said that hospital employees have long complained about safety concerns.
The ‘beloved’ social worker was described by his fellow workers as selfless and caring.
‘There are people who are alive today because of him,’ Abule said. ‘He was just such a passionate, wonderful person and had so much life to live.’
Saurez described him to ABC 7 as ‘one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met in my life.’
Union leaders are now calling for a security review at the hospital in light of the tragedy.
‘We are demanding a thorough investigation into what allowed this to happen and what changes need to be made, so this never happens again,’ President of the University Professional and Technical Employees Union, Dan Russell, told ABC 7.
Health officials respond to social worker’s preventable death
Officials with the San Francisco Deputy Sheriff’s Association released a statement criticizing the city’s decision to reduce the number of SFCSO deputies assigned to the hospital.
‘This tragedy is exactly what deputies and staff warned would happen when the Department of Public Health cut deputy sheriff positions and shifted to a ‘response-only’ security model,’ the statement read in part.
Citing the hospital’s own data, the sheriff’s deputy union noted that there were on average ‘six physical assaults with injury each month’ during the last year and urged department of health officials to increase the number of deputies assigned to the facility’s high-risk units.
‘This was not a random, unforeseeable incident,’ DSA President Ken Lomba said. ‘ZSFGH’s own data show years of serious assaults and weapons on campus. Deputies, nurses, and social workers told DPH that pulling deputies off high-risk units/posts and replacing them with unarmed cadets and distant response teams would get someone seriously hurt or killed. On December 4, that prediction came true.’
Health department officials disclosed that they are taking steps to improve staff safety, including adding more security, working to get weapons detection systems installed and limiting access points for unauthorized personnel, SFGATE reported.
According to Rangel’s Psychology Today profile, the clinician had spent more than 15 years helping individuals dealing with trauma and grief.
‘My values have a strong emphasis in being of service to my community, and integrating holistic approaches,’ he wrote.
‘It is a privilege to accompany individuals towards strengthening their healing and wellness.’
A GoFundMe has been created in Rangel’s memory. The funds will be sent to an organization that was important to him, the page reads.
According to a San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) statement, Arriechi has been booked into the county jail for attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, mayhem and being armed during the commission of a felony. The suspect was now expected to have the attempted murder charge upgraded to that of murder.
