Update: On Dec. 6, two days after the stabbing, the social worker died as a result of their injuries.
When a social worker was stabbed repeatedly by a patient on Thursday afternoon at San Francisco General Hospital, the sheriffโs deputy assigned to provide additional security for hospital staff was petting a dog, according to an eyewitness interviewed by Mission Local.
The deputy had specifically been called to Ward 86, the hospitalโs HIV clinic, because of concerns about the alleged attacker, who had earlier threatened hospital staff and was a known and feared presence at the clinic. But at the time of the stabbing, the witness said the deputy was not within eyeshot of the alleged attacker.
The witness, an employee at the hospitalโs HIV ward who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they intervened as the stabbing occurred, and pulled the attacker off of their colleague. This contradicts a statement from the Sheriffโs Department, which said the deputy โintervened immediatelyโ as the attack unfolded. Sheriffโs deputies provide security at the hospital and other city buildings.
The sheriff’s department stood by its deputy’s actions, emphasizing he was assigned to protect a doctor who had earlier been threatened by the alleged attacker, not to shadow the alleged attacker.
“Our deputy followed all required procedures,” reads a statement from the department. “He was onsite to ensure the doctorโs safety, remained on the Ward after an initial search for the subject, and when he heard a commotion in the hallway, immediately responded. Upon witnessing the assault in progress, he intervened without hesitation, detained the subject, and secured the scene. His quick actions allowed medical staff to begin life-saving measures for the victim without delay.”
The alleged attacker was purportedly a regular patient at the ward, and had made threats toward medical staff in recent weeks, the witness said. He had threatened a doctor at the HIV unit with bodily harm, and the doctor had reported the situation to the Department of Public Health, according to the witness. San Francisco City Clinic, a free clinic on Seventh Street, had also informed the unit of the same patient making threats there, the witness said.
โThis could have been avoided on so many fucking levels,โ the witness said. โWe knew three weeks ago about this patient.โ
Wilfredo Tortolero-Arriechi, 34, was arrested yesterday for attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and mayhem.
The social worker is on life support, and sources say those who know him are saying their goodbyes at the hospital. In a statement, the Department of Public Health confirmed he is still in critical condition and declined to give additional information, citing medical privacy laws.
Ward 86, one of the longest-standing HIV clinics in the country and a pioneer in HIV/AIDS care, is closed indefinitely and employees are not going in to work.
The ward treats many patients suffering from mental illness and behavioral health issues, stimulant-use disorder and schizophrenia, the witness said, and is not sufficiently equipped to keep staff safe. Threats of violence happen often. At a debriefing today after the incident, the source said staffers were asked to raise their hands if they had ever felt unsafe or been threatened at work.
โWe all kept raising our hands,โ they said.
Standard protections, meanwhile, are lacking: Staff donโt receive hazard pay, the rooms donโt have panic buttons, the building doesnโt have metal detectors โ after this incident, the hospital told staff it would install them and close off one entrance. The source also said there was also no โcrash cartโ with lifesaving equipment readily available.
“We work with some of the most vulnerable because we want to help the people, that’s what we’re there for,โ the witness said. โAt the same time, it’s like, how can we do our job safely?โ
The distinction made by the sheriff’s department โย that the deputy was assigned to protect the doctor who had been threatened, not to shadow the alleged attacker โย came as news to hospital staff.
The witness said they were just a few feet away when Tortolero-Arriechi, who they were familiar with as having behavioral health issues, began stabbing a social worker in the hallway of the ward.
At first, the witness thought the man was punching the social worker, before realizing he was actually stabbing him in the neck and stomach.
โHe was screaming in a nonsensical way,โ the witness said of the alleged attacker. Seeing a colleague struggling in a chokehold, the witness ran to intervene, yanked the two apart and realized the attacker had actually been stabbing the social worker. โI just froze, and I was like, โoh, shit, I’m gonna die.โโ
The attacker then tossed a knife across the hallway and pulled his shirt over his head, the witness said, before the sheriffโs deputy arrived and handcuffed him. The social worker began โgushing bloodโ and his colleagues began trying to save his life.
The sheriffโs department on Thursday said it collected a five-inch kitchen knife at the scene.ย
An email sent to hospital staff this evening revealed that metal detectors were already scheduled to be installed at this ward โ but hadnโt been put in yet.
The evening email outlined immediate changes being implemented like โincreasing security presence and sheriff deputy presenceโ at Building 80-90, where the incident occurred, and using security wands until the metal detectors are finally installed. It also indicated plans to adjust security protocols for high-risk patients and working with the sheriffโs deputies to โenhance intervention protocols during safety incidents.โ
But the witness said that staff at the unit are fearful and angry that such protocols were not already in place. At this time, the witness doesnโt know if theyโll return to work.
โThereโs a culture โฆ of desensitization,” they said. โIโm not desensitized to it, and I donโt want to be.โ
Well and letโs be clear – the โweapons screeningโ they already have in place at a few of the SFGH buildings are not metal detectors. We have seen patients get through with knivesโฆ but good news they found my Pyrex soup container.
Also the lack of crash cart is inexcusable. Hospital administrators need to answer to this.
We should be able to expect a reasonable standard of safety at our jobs. Instead we get inexcusable tragedy.
What does accountability look like in the Sheriff’s Office?
Defunding them. Plain and simple. What does accountability look like for you when you donโt do your job? Why do the police get special treatment in this regard? Fire them and hire someone competent instead.
Why would they need a crash cart on the psych ward,for the patients to grab a weapon, to harm, themselves or someone, like that poor social worker?
Why would you need a crash cart on a hub clinic ward?
In case someone crashed? Clinics treat all kinds of things.
san francisco department of public health must immediately remove all sheriff personnel from its facilities. the sheriff personnel do absolutely nothing to protect staff, patients, visitors, and the public. they do not patrol and they do not consistently interact with the community. all they do the entire shift is hang out in their rooms or outside on their personal smartphones playing games, watching videos, and texting. when they do rarely interact with staff and patients, they do so rudely and with an unpleasant attitude. sfdph should have its own public security officers instead!
That’s what they do anywhere you find them, it’s accurate.
โ He was onsite to ensure the doctorโs safety.โ The way to do this most successfully wouldโve been to monitor the person who was behaving in a threatening, erratic or violent way.
What a lame excuse from the sheriffโs office. I wish I could say I was surprised.
UCSF and DPH leadership have a long list of injustices they should be made to answer for, but one thing thatโs always been clear at UCSF-run hospitals is that they donโt care one bit about social workersโuntil one of them dies. Then theyโll send out a bunch of soothing and sympathetic emails from leadership for about a week. Then itโs back to business as usual, which means theyโre still underpaid, understaffed, under-equipped to do the impossible jobs theyโre tasked with, while UC continues to spend billions expanding its real estate holdings.
This is what SFPD overtime pay looks like.
Related headline and sub headline in the Chronicle today: โCalifornia is releasing violent mentally ill people into communities. California not only permits those with violent histories like Bill Gene Hobbs to be released from mental hospitals while still severely ill, it can require it.โ
CA law. Not CA.
The law is written and you could even read it if you wanted to.
https://gofund.me/0ba44dce6
Our society has become far too tolerant and protective of these crazed individuals at the expense of everyone else.
Mental health problems are a societal reality. They’re literally in treatment.
What would you expect beyond that? The deputy didn’t do their job here.
You don’t seem to have a problem with that part?
The replies downvoted below are confused. There was clearly one person who did not do their job, and someone died as a result. That should be the focus here.
They only had that chance because decades worth of legal and political leaders did not do their jobs to create a justice system that allows for appropriate action after observing weeks of threatening behavior by mentally ill individuals.
That has nothing to do with this case. A person was in treatment. The security concerns were not adequately addressed.
Read articles.
This is treatment for HIV at a clinic space after multiple concerning events. We repeatedly release unstable individuals and/or minimize their behaviors until
Something significant happens.
The deputy is another issue. Even when present and doing their job appropriately, Security does not touch or separate these problematic patients with treating staff unless thereโs a an obvious concern. How long do you think it takes to pull out a knife and stab someone standing right next to you? Seconds.
The social worker was doing their job. The deputy and security regime obviously wasn’t.
BECAUSE ADNIM HANDCUFFS THE SHERIFF DEPT.
SFGH administration does not take security of it’s employees seriously. In fact, they reduced security.
And to be honest, much of the staff doesn’t take it seriously either. When I worked there we tried to restrict access to that building and improve screening but the staff bitched constantly and would leave doors propped open. It’s a culture that doesn’t take safety seriously. I was assaulted and no one did shit about it. That’s why I quit and gave up my profession.
What do we expect? Violent mentally ill people not being allowed to roam the streets unsupervised carrying weapons.
Typical Civil Service worker. They don’t do their job or do it half assed because they know they won’t get fired. In a similar situation, when I worked for,SFUSD,I’d have to beg my aide or para, to keep it eye on the students, they stood around, talking about:”Who Shoot John.” Only after I got my arm broken,by a student off his meds, did they get fired.
Dr. Monica Gandhi has been the Medical Director of Ward 86 for over a decade. During the pandemic, she was ubiquitous in the mainstream and social media and on podcasts, even though she wasnโt treating COVID patients. Why was she prioritizing non-essential public-facing tasks over the past five+ years instead of ensuring something as basic and essential as the safety of her employees? And why was this permitted by her superiors at UCSF/SF General? Why wasnโt she procuring a crash cart, putting in place better safety and security protocols, being attuned enough to her direct reports to understand their needs, and the like, and why did she allow the violence and the threats to safety on Ward 86 to become so normalized that employees either became thoroughly desensitized or were expected to tune out the dangers? First do no harm. Isnโt that the oath and the job of a doctor?
Itโs not only the sheriffs, as support, who played a role in this. The executives and the line managers/directors have more power and call many more of the shots and have responsibility and accountability for the overall situation, in my view. Thatโs why theyโre paid so much more.
I hope the victim fully recovers and he and the eyewitnesses donโt develop PTSD. Theyโve been failed by their supposed โleadership.โ
I also hope there is a thorough, professional investigation of what went wrong, not just on the day of the incident, but during the months and the years prior that allowed the negligence and put people at risk of mortal peril. Those responsible need to be held to meaningful account.
petting a dog in a hospital setting. only in san francisco does this sort of disgusting practice go unnoticed, or even celebrated…keep filthy pets out of hospitals, restaurants, grocery stores. San Francisco…where dogs are treated better than humans
Found the psycho who thinks this is the important part of the story?
Fun Facts! A dog’s mouth is cleaner than a humans.