Carly Jones adorns a memorial at San Francisco General Hospital during a vigil Sunday for Alberto Rangel, a social worker who was stabbed on the job Thursday and died two days later.
Scott Strazzante/S.F. Chronicle
Chaplain John Wolff speaks at San Francisco General Hospital during a vigil for Alberto Rangel, a social worker fatally stabbed by a man authorities identified as a patient of the HIV ward.
Scott Strazzante/S.F. Chronicle
The UCSF social worker who died Saturday — days after he was stabbed at San Francisco General Hospital, allegedly by a patient — was identified Sunday as Alberto Rangel, 51.
In a GoFundMe started for Rangel’s family, colleagues described him as a “beloved spouse, brother, social worker and human.”
• Victim: S.F. General Hospital social worker’s death after stabbing a ‘devastating loss’
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• Warnings: S.F. General staff raised fears about troubled patient in weeks before fatal stabbing
The fundraiser raised more than $49,000 by Sunday night as colleagues gathered for a vigil outside the hospital.
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“On Thursday, Dec. 4th, Alberto went to work doing what he does best: providing excellent support and care to his patients and colleagues,” a colleague wrote in the GoFundMe. “In an unexpected tragedy, he was violently assaulted.”
Alberto Rangel, shown in an image posted on a GoFundMe account established to support his family, has been identified as the social worker fatally stabbed at San Francisco General Hospital.
GoFundMe
Official agencies — including the San Francisco Department of Public Health — have not publicly identified Rangel but described him as a beloved employee whose dedication to serving others was evident in “every aspect of their work.”
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Rangel’s colleagues said he was “luminous” member of S.F. General’s Ward 86 who had worked in the field for more than 12 years. Ward 86, where the stabbing occurred Thursday, is the city’s long-term HIV care clinic.
Wilfredo Tortolero-Arriechi, 34, has been arrested in the stabbing. He is expected to face murder charges and remained in sheriff’s custody without bail as of Sunday afternoon.
Authorities said the suspect — who was a patient at the clinic — stabbed Rangel while on a rampage directed toward a doctor in the clinic. According to a person familiar with the incident who was not authorized to speak on the record, staff had raised concerns to their superiors about Tortolero-Arriechi in the weeks before the fatal attack as well as on that morning.
Staff research assistant Chey Dean hugs a colleague as San Francisco General Hospital union members hold a vigil for their slain colleague, social worker Alberto Rangel.
Scott Strazzante/S.F. Chronicle
Hours before the stabbing, the suspect went to the San Francisco City Clinic, a sexual health facility in the South of Market neighborhood, to look for the doctor he was targeting, according to the source who spoke with the Chronicle.
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The employee was granted anonymity in accordance with Chronicle policies.
There, the director of the City Clinic hid the doctor — who works at both facilities — and told Tortolero-Arriechi the doctor wasn’t there, the employee said. Tortolero-Arriechi then told the director he would seek out the doctor at Ward 86 that afternoon.
After that interaction, employees at Ward 86 again reiterated their concerns about the patient to security officials, and a sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to guard the doctor. Still, the patient managed to enter the floor, where he encountered Rangel.
San Francisco General Hospital union members bow their heads as chaplain John Wolff leads a prayer for Alberto Rangel, a social worker who was stabbed Thursday and died Saturday.
Scott Strazzante/S.F. Chronicle
Colleagues said Rangel was stabbed in the neck and shoulder when he tried to calm the patient down. A 5-inch knife believed to have been used in the stabbing was recovered in the incident.
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In response to the fatal encounter, the health department and hospital announced they would begin implementing “security wanding” at Building 90 and Building 80, which houses Ward 86. The facility previously had none.