SoCal Clinic Workers Who Mocked Patients On TikTok Are Terminated

SANTA BARBARA, CA — Several healthcare workers were terminated from a Southern California clinic for participating in a viral video in which they appeared to pose with and mock patients’ bodily fluids.

The video features at least a dozen medical workers at Sansum Clinic of Santa Barbara, many posing alongside exam chairs and tables with stained paper runners that appear to have come into contact with bodily fluids. Some of the workers are pointing, sticking out a tongue or giving the thumbs up beside the fluids.

The text over the first image in the video asks, “Are patients allowed to leave you guys gifts?” The last ends with, “make sure to leave your healthcare workers sweet gifts like these!”

The video, since deleted from its original account but still reverberating across social media, was posted on TikTok over Labor Day weekend and featured photographs taken at the urgent care clinic on Pesetas Lane, according to KTLA.

In a statement Tuesday on social media, Sansum, which is part of Sutter Health, said that the person who posted the video was a former employee, that other staff shown in the video were on administrative leave and that it was conducting a full review.

In a follow-up statement on Wednesday, Sansum said the employees 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 post said.

The video drew ire and disgust from viewers, and Sansum was not spared.

“My question is what is the culture of your clinic because why did this many employees feel comfortable participating in this?” one person commented in response to Sansum’s statement on Tuesday.