A group of healthcare workers in Santa Barbara were fired on Wednesday after a video apparently showing patients’ bodily fluids was posted on TikTok, according to their employer.
The now-deleted post, made by a former employee at Sansum Clinic — a nonprofit outpatient care facility owned by Sutter Health — showed eight workers mocking what appeared to be the bodily fluid of patients on exam tables with the on-screen caption, “Are patients allowed to leave you guys gifts?” and “Make sure you leave your healthcare workers sweet gifts like these!” In one image, the medical staff are seen pointing and smiling at a spot with their thumbs up. The caption reads, “Guess the substance!”
A spokesperson for Sacramento-based health system Sutter Health said that, although the original poster was not an employee at the time the video was posted, others who appeared in it had been terminated.
“This unacceptable behavior is an outright violation of our policies, shows a lack of respect for our patients and will not be tolerated,” the company said in a statement shared with The Times.
The video spread over the weekend on platforms including X, Instagram and Reddit, sparking an outpouring of anger among commenters along the way.
“No place for shaming the patient in medicine,” one user on Reddit wrote.
“My question is what is the culture of your clinic because why did this many employees feel comfortable participating in this?” another user inquired on Instagram.
According to an online statement from Sansum Clinic, officials were notified of the post by concerned patients and immediately conducted a review of the video.
“Within 24 hours of becoming aware of the posts, we placed the employees on administrative leave, and within another 24 hours, we terminated those involved,” the health system posted.
The video was deleted soon after it was posted once commenters questioned the participants’ ethics. But it was reposted by multiple other accounts and disseminated further through “stitches” of individuals reacting to the post on TikTok and other platforms.
A Sansum spokesperson said the clinic remained steadfastly committed to patient privacy and dignity.
“We expect all team members to live our patients-first mission and uphold the highest standards of compassion, professionalism and respect,” he said. “We are using this inappropriate incident to reinforce our comprehensive policies with all our team members across the organization.”
