A healthcare facility found itself at the center of a controversy after its staff shared a disrespectful TikTok video about patients, leading to the dismissal of those involved.
Employees at Sutter Health faced significant criticism after appearing to joke about a patient’s bodily fluids at the Sansum clinic in Santa Barbara.
The clinic quickly came under scrutiny when a series of images depicted staff in various poses around an examination table and hospital chairs.
The employees gathered around the furniture, prompting viewers to guess what type of fluid was present on the surfaces.
One image featured a worker squatting on a table with her hands in a praying gesture, another showed a staff member with a leg raised, while another donned blue scrubs and made a playful facial expression.
A question accompanying the images asked: “Are patients allowed to leave you guys gifts?”
The video was labeled: “Guess the substance.”
Posted on TikTok during the Labor Day weekend, the video quickly went viral, inciting outrage among viewers.
This led many to flood Yelp with negative feedback, resulting in the clinic receiving over 200 one-star ratings due to the incident.
One Yelp user expressed growing mistrust of medical providers.
“I had a doctor’s appointment today, and even though I trust who I was seeing, it was in the back of my mind what Sutter Health had done,” he said.
As the video spread, drawing widespread criticism for undermining patient dignity, Sutter Health responded to the backlash and outlined the steps taken.
The organization clarified that the post was made by a former employee who departed in July.
Others featured in the images were initially placed on administrative leave but have since been terminated.
“Sutter Health has terminated the employees responsible for the inappropriate and insensitive photos posted on social media,” the company announced on its official X account on Wednesday, August 4.
“This unacceptable behavior is an outright violation of our policies, shows a lack of respect for our patients and will not be tolerated.
“Protecting the trust of those we serve is our highest priority, and when that trust is violated, we take swift action to address it.”
They further stated: “We expect all team members to live our patients-first mission and uphold the highest standards of compassion, professionalism and respect.
“We are using this inappropriate incident to reinforce our comprehensive policies with all our team members across the organization as part of our commitment to providing all patients with high-quality, compassionate care.”
Sutter Health operates 200 clinics across northern California.
A representative from Sutter Health expressed being ‘deeply concerned’ after learning about the video.
“The trust and dignity of our patients always remain our top priority,” the spokesperson said.
The social media post was deemed ‘disrespectful,’ prompting an investigation by the organization.
Officials emphasized that the video violated company standards for professionalism and respect.
“We have strict policies to protect patient privacy and dignity and any behavior that disrespects those standards is unacceptable,” they stated.
“The trust and dignity of our patients always remain at the center of everything we do.”