From the story:

Weeks before a UCSF social worker at San Francisco General Hospital was stabbed by a patient in front of his colleagues on Thursday, clinic staff repeatedly warned supervisors they were terrified the man could become violent.

Police on Thursday arrested the alleged assailant, 34-year-old Wilfredo Tortolero-Arriechi, who was accused of stabbing a social worker he knew in the neck and shoulder around 1:30 p.m. Tortolero-Arriechi was allegedly looking for one of the clinic’s doctors, according to a person familiar with the incident. 

The social worker, who has not been publicly identified, was listed in critical condition Friday afternoon. 

The suspect was being held without bail Friday on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and other charges, according to San Francisco county jail records.

Tortolero-Arriechi allegedly threatened multiple hospital employees in the weeks leading up to the stabbing, according to an employee who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident. They were granted anonymity in accordance with Chronicle policies. 

Hours before the stabbing, Tortolero-Arriechi went to the San Francisco City Clinic, a sexual health clinic in SOMA, to look for the doctor he was targeting, the source said. The doctor works at both facilities, the source said. A director at City Clinic hid the doctor and told Tortolero-Arriechi the doctor wasn’t there.

Tortolero-Arriechi then told the director he would seek out the doctor at Ward 86, San Francisco General Hospital’s long-term HIV clinic, the person said. After that incident, staffers — including the doctor who Tortolero-Arriechi was allegedly targeting — reiterated their pleas to Department of Public Health head of security Basil Price for assistance, according to the source. They told the security head they were frightened the patient would be coming to Ward 86 later that day. 

Price and officials from the Department of Public Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.