Urgent care workers in Santa Barbara, California, were fired after a “dehumanizing” TikTok content was taken inside medical exam rooms over Labor Day weekend.
Several staffers at the Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara, California, were fired after they were caught in a TikTok video in which they were joking and posing with patients’ bodily fluids left on exam tables, according to a report by KTLA.
“Are patients allowed to leave you guys gifts?” the text reads over one of the images, which is then followed by images of workers laughing, pointing, and even posing playfully around stains in the medical facility.
“Guess the substance!” another caption reads in another photo included in the since-deleted TikTok video.
The last image shows an image of staffers posing for a group photo near a stain, alongside the caption, “Make sure to leave your healthcare workers sweet gifts like these!”
“We are deeply concerned about a disrespectful social media post made on a personal account by a former employee, and we are conducting a full review in line with our policies,” a spokesperson for Sutter Health, which Sansum Clinic is a part of, told KTLA.
The spokesperson added that the video was posted to TikTok over Labor Day weekend by a former employee who left the organization in late July — and later revealed that all workers involved in the video have been fired.
“Sutter Health has terminated the employees responsible for the inappropriate and insensitive photos posted to social media,” the healthcare company said in a statement posted to social media.
“This unacceptable behavior is an outright violation of our policies, shows a lack of respect for our patients, and will not be tolerated,” Sutter Health added.
Patients who believe that their privacy or dignity has been violated within or outside of the Sutter Health network can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights here.
The video was originally posted by the user @angieuncut on TikTok, according to a report by the Santa Barbara Independent.
While the TikTok post was quickly deleted, it nonetheless was saved by other users and went viral on social media, where viewers referred to the content as “dehumanizing,” “unprofessional,” and “unethical.”
Another commented that the TikTok post left her “speechless,” before slamming the employees for being “unprofessional and unethical.”
Posts to China’s TikTok has gotten multiple health care workers in trouble over the years, and was the epicenter of the disrespectful “dancing nurse” craze during the coronavirus pandemic.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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