A group of urgent care workers in Santa Barbara, California, has been fired after a TikTok video showed them mocking patients by posing with bodily fluids left behind on exam tables. The video spread quickly across social media and people were outraged.
The deleted TikTok, first reported by a local station, featured employees at Sansum Clinic standing next to paper exam table covers that had stains. One caption read: “Guess the substance.”
Another clip showed a female worker smiling with a thumbs-up next to a stain with the word “Yes!” over it. In another, a staff member bent over a larger stain with her tongue out while the caption said: “All shapes and sizes.” The last part showed staff standing around another table with the words: “Make sure you leave your healthcare workers sweet gifts like these!”
The video was first shared by a TikTok user before the account went private, but screen recordings kept it circulating. It showed up on Reddit where people condemned it and called the behavior disgusting.
Sutter Health, which works with Sansum Clinic, confirmed all employees in the video have been terminated.
A spokesperson 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.” They explained that the original poster no longer worked there, but the ones in the video were current staff and they were fired.
Sansum Clinic posted a statement on Instagram saying: “Patient trust and dignity are always our top priority, and any behavior that violates those standards is unacceptable.”
Online backlash has been heavy. A Reddit post sharing the video has over 1,000 comments. One nurse said she was “speechless” and called the actions “unprofessional and unethical.” Another person said the workers would “rue the day they posted this dehumanizing garbage.”
Healthcare ethicists said mocking patients, even without names, breaks medical standards and damages the trust between providers and the community. The clip is gone now, but the fallout shows how damaging social media misuse can be in healthcare.
