California hospital staff fired following 'dehumanizing' TikTok ridiculing their patients

Members of staff from a California hospital have been fired following a ‘dehumanizing’ TikTok video where they ridiculed their patients.

The healthcare workers at Sansum Clinic, which is located in Santa Barbara, posted a clip with a caption that read: “Are patients allowed to leave you guys gifts?”

The images that followed showed several workers posing with the exam table where a small stain could be seen left behind.

Another image had more writing which read: “Yes!” and a third said: “All shapes and sizes.”

The video was originally posted by a user named @angieuncut on TikTok and has since been taken down.

Speaking to KTLA, Sutter Health, which is one of the largest nonprofit healthcare networks in northern California and has partnered with Sansum Clinic, said: “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.”

The firm continued: “The trust and dignity of our patients always remain our top priority. The post goes against the values, professionalism and respect we expect from all staff. We have strict policies to protect patient privacy and dignity, and any behavior that disrespects those standards is unacceptable.”

Sansum Clinic also released a statement, taking to Instagram to say: “We share the concern raised by a recent social media post at one of our care sites and took immediate action once we became aware.

“We take this matter very seriously and are conducting a full review. Patient trust and dignity are always our top priority and any behavior that violates those standards is unacceptable.

“The individual who posted the content is a former employee and was not employed with us at the time of the post. Any other staff shown are part of our internal investigation and are on administrative leave pending the results.”

The healthcare network later confirmed that all individuals involved in the video have now been fired from the company.

One user wrote: “Wow! I am speechless. As a nurse I feel second hand embarrassed. This is beyond unprofessional and unethical.”

Another said: “They got all these on the clock nurses together to take a picture around a stain on the exam chair? This is extremely weird and childish.”

A third person commented: “It’s insane to me how many people were involved in this and not ONE thought it was wrong.”

And a fourth added: “You know you all don’t have to work in healthcare right? leave them sweet little gifts??? This is so insane that people would do this and then she goes and deletes all of it. We have the pictures and saved the video and will not stop until you are all held accountable.”