Video of Santa Barbara Healthcare Workers Sparks Disgust and Concern with Locals
Alissa Orozco
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include an updated statement from Sutter Health. All staff shown or associated with the social media video have been terminated.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A video allegedly filmed at a Sansum Clinic location in Santa Barbara sparked disgust and concern with locals over the weekend.
The video, originally posted to Tik Tok, has gone viral over Labor Day weekend and has been circling several other platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit.
The video shows staff posing in front of bodily-fluid stained exam table paper – with text referring to them as “sweet gifts.”
In the slideshow-style post, multiple healthcare workers could be seen making faces and posing with the fluid stains. Seemingly mocking patients, saying these ‘gifts’ come in ‘all shapes and sizes.’
The original video and account has since been deleted and privated, but screenshots and recordings are still circulating social media.
A reddit post claims the video was taken at Sutter Health Pesetas Urgent Care in Santa Barbara, a location now run by Sansum clinic.
Commenters expressed concern at the violation of privacy and lack of professionalism.
Your News Channel reached out to the clinic for more information, and a Sutter Health spokesperson says the video was posted by a former employee who is no longer employed by the clinic and all employees involved have been terminated:
Sutter Health has terminated the employees responsible for the inappropriate and insensitive photos posted on 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.
Protecting the trust of those we serve is our highest priority and when that trust is violated, we take swift action to address it. 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 as part of this ongoing investigation.
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.- a Sutter Health spokesperson
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