5B

In the mid-1980s, a simple number and letter designated a ward on the fifth floor of San Francisco General Hospital, the first in the country designed specifically to deal with AIDS patients. The nurses’ emphasis on humanity and consideration of holistic well-being was a small miracle in the midst of a devastating crisis and the ensuing panic about risk and infection. The story of 5B is stirringly told through first-person testimony of patients, their loved ones, and hospital staff who volunteered to work on the ward, resulting in a bittersweet and moving monument to a moment in San Francisco history and a celebration of quiet heroes worthy of remembrance and renewed recognition.