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A candlelight vigil at San Francisco General hospital was held on Sunday in remembrance of Alberto Rangel, 51, a UCSF social worker who died on Saturday after being stabbed by a patient two days earlier.
Sojourn Chaplaincy hospital chaplain John Wolff led the group in prayer at the start of the vigil. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
Community members, coworkers, and friends — many from the healthcare industry — held candles and laid flowers in front of the hospital in Rangel’s memory. Chaplain John Wolff led the group in prayer, describing Rangel as a “dedicated advocate for people,” and a dedicated member of the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Some in attendance greeted each other with hugs of support. Some cried. Others bowed their heads in somber silence.
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When Katherine Alvarez, a former staff member at Ward 86, the pioneering HIV/AIDS unit where Rangel worked, first met him, she said, he sent her a card thanking her for being his friend and a wonderful person. “He was a beautiful and kind soul.”
Jessica Hoopengardner, a nurse at the ward and another friend, described him as “the most open-hearted, loving, non-judgemental, kind diva.”
Bouquets of flowers, candles and a sign were brought to the vigil in memory of Rangel. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
Rangel’s alleged killer, 34-year-old Wilfredo Tortolero-Arriechi, was arrested on the scene of the killing and is being held in county jail on charges of murder, assault with a deadly weapon, use of a deadly weapon, and “mayhem.”
Rangel was attacked on the afternoon of Dec. 4. Tortolero-Arriechi was purportedly a regular patient at Ward 86 and was known and feared by staff there. Rangel had raised concerns about his alleged attacker three weeks ago, said Hoopengardner. “We all should’ve been informed.”
Tortolero-Arriechi had allegedly made threats on the day of the attack against a doctor at Ward 86. A sheriff’s deputy was deployed to protect that doctor — but staffers have said they were under the impression the deputy would be shadowing Tortolero-Arriechi, not just minding the doctor who had been threatened by him. An eyewitness to the attack said that the deputy was not within eyeshot of Tortolero-Arriechi when he attacked Rangel in a hallway.
Tortolero-Arriechi allegedly stabbed Rangel repeatedly with a five-inch kitchen knife recovered at the scene.
“This could have been avoided on so many fucking levels,” said the eyewitness, a colleague of Rangel’s. “We knew three weeks ago about this patient.” The healthcare system failed everyone in the unit, Alvarez added. “We’re the backbone of a vulnerable community and we’re not being protected.”
Members of the University Professional and Technical Employees union are demanding a full investigation into the circumstances that led up to Rangel’s killing. They are also demanding immediate protections for hospital staff — increased security and metal detectors in every unit. Many of the social workers at San Francisco general have been “raising alarms for years about the safety conditions,” said union co-chair Chey Dean.
“The way that this country takes care of people is not appropriate,” said Hoopengarder. “We need to be repaired with love and compassion, and that is something that Alberto understood.”
A GoFundMe has been started in honor of Rangel.
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