Sponsor MessageBecome a KQED sponsor
upper waypoint

Fatal UCSF Stabbing Heightens Concerns About Health Worker Safety

Save ArticleSave Article
Failed to save article

Please try again

A memorial for social worker Alberto Rangel, who was fatally stabbed on December 4 at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, outside the hospital on Dec. 9, 2025. Rangel, 51, died two days after the attack, sparking renewed calls for improved safety at the facility. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

Airdate: Thursday, December 11 at 9 AM

The killing of Alberto Rangel, a 51-year-old social worker at San Francisco General Hospital, has left colleagues grieving and questioning whether his death could have been prevented. Rangel was stabbed by a patient who authorities say had made multiple threats for weeks. Incidents of workplace violence in healthcare facilities have been on the rise for more than a decade nationwide, prompting hospitals and medical offices to adopt stricter safety protocols. But are they working? We’ll talk about workplace violence against health care workers and what employers are doing – and failing to do – to protect them.

Guests:

Annie Vainshtein, reporter, San Francisco Chronicle

Dani Golomb, psychiatrist; Golomb was attacked by a patient in 2020 during her medical residency at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco

Dan Russell, president, University Professional and Technical Employees

Al'ai Alvarez, clinical professor of emergency medicine, Stanford University

Cammie Chaumont Menendez, research epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Sponsored

lower waypoint
next waypoint
Player sponsored by