A healthcare system center in California terminated several employees for posting “inappropriate and insensitive photos” of themselves posing with patients’ bodily fluids on social media.
Sutter Health, which operates Sansum Clinic, an urgent care facility in Santa Barbara, California, where the content was purportedly filmed, said in a Sept. 3 news release that the employees responsible were terminated after the videos came to light.
“Protecting the trust of those we serve is our highest priority, and when that trust is violated, we take swift action to address it,” Sutter Health said. “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.”
“This unacceptable behavior is an outright violation of our policies, shows a lack of respect for our patients, and will not be tolerated,” Sutter Health added in the news release.
Sutter Health did not clarify how many employees were fired but told USA TODAY that “any employee seen (and) who knowingly took part in the inappropriate photos, they are no longer employed with us.”
