San Francisco General Hospital stabbing: Community mourns social worker fatally stabbed as tragedy reignites safety concerns

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — We’re learning more about the death of a social worker at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, who died two days after being stabbed by a man identified as a patient.

The victim is being remembered as a deeply caring person. The tragedy raises concerns about safety and security. A vigil was hosted on Sunday to honor his memory.

“I’ll just say the social worker was one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met in my life. Amazing clinician. Unbelievable loss for staff and community,” said Julette Suarez, a social worker at San Francisco General.

Suarez was remembering her colleague, a 31-year-old fellow social worker, who police say was attacked and stabbed multiple times in the neck and shoulder, by a patient armed with a 5-inch kitchen knife. It happened Thursday, with the victim passing away from injuries Saturday.

Suarez said the incident was devastating but should never have happened.

RELATED: Social worker dies after stabbed by patient at SF General Hospital; suspect arrested: authorities

“Members have been raising safety concerns for a long time. Workers have been complaining about safety for years. This is something that should never have happened,” Suarez said.

The suspect is now in sheriff’s custody. The attack happened in the HIV ward of the hospital, a ward that does not have a metal detector.

Hospital staff had already raised safety concerns about a patient and requested deputy protection after a doctor in Ward 86 received threats. according to the union. The deputy was in a nearby room when he heard a disturbance and saw the patient in the hallway stabbing the 31-year-old social worker with a kitchen knife.

The victim suffered wounds to the neck and shoulder. Medical staff performed lifesaving measures, including CPR, and the victim was taken to an operating room in critical condition.

The day of the stabbing, the suspect reportedly went to the San Francisco City Clinic in SOMA to look for a doctor he was targeting. The doctor wasn’t there, so he went to the general hospital.

RELATED: Social worker in critical condition after being stabbed by patient at SF General Hospital: sheriff

Union leaders are calling for a security review.

“We are demanding a thorough investigation into what allowed this to happen and what changes need to be made, so this never happens again,” said Dan Russell, president of University Professional and Technical Employees.

The Department of Public Health said it’s working with the hospital to strengthen security, having “already taken steps like adding more security, limiting access points and speeding up the installation of weapons detection systems.”

The San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association said it warned that such a tragedy would happen when the Department of Public Health cut deputy positions at the hospital.

In a statement, DSA President Ken Lomba said: “This was not a random, unforeseeable incident. 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.”

Bay City News contributed to this report.