Two Asian-American staff members at San Francisco General hospital were assaulted in Building 5, according to a memo sent out to all hospital staff Monday.
“Earlier today, two Asian-American members of our staff were assaulted in Building 5 and are now receiving appropriate care,” reads the memo, penned by Department of Public Health spokesman Brent Andrew on May 24.
“Owing to the great number of violent acts directed at the Asian community, we take this incident very seriously, and the assault is being investigated as a racially motivated crime.”
Sources close to the incident said the assailant may have been an unhoused individual receiving treatment at the hospital.
According to the memo, the alleged perpetrator of the hate crime is in custody.
Reached for comment, Andrew stated “We denounce all such acts, without exception. Our primary focus is on the safety of our staff and patients; therefore, we are working with security and others to develop a plan to prevent this from happening again in the future.”
General Hospital is in the midst of formulating proposals for a revamped security presence — and workers there are divided on whether it should include armed Sheriff’s Deputies or not.
This is a breaking story and will be updated when possible.
“…’may have been’ an unhoused individual receiving treatment at the hospital.”
Curious to know why this was mentioned without getting verification.
SAME! It seems like a detail that could have been omitted, seeing as people who are “unhoused” are already stigmatized and are themselves often abused and assaulted. I’m like, how about no violence against anyone?
Whether racially driven or not, violence is unfortunately a part of life for many healthcare providers and as indicated by the mention of the controversy over whether to include armed Sheriff’s Deputies in SF General’s Security planning there is no one recognized solution. The level of violence has been exacerbated by the the heightened tensions caused by the pandemic and current level of incivility in our country driven by politics. All healthcare organizations need to be looking at the measures they currently have in place to prevent violence against their staff and adjusting them to ensure they meet the new environment.
Building 5? Is that the old hospital building?
That is correct.
JE