Urgent care employees at a California clinic have been terminated after a disturbing TikTok video went viral, exposing staff as they mocked patients and joked about the “sweet gifts” left behind in exam rooms.
The now-viral video, originally posted by a former employee of Sansum Clinic – a non-profit outpatient clinic in California – sparked outrage across social media and raised serious concerns about professionalism and workplace culture in medical environments.
Disturbing TikTok sparks backlash
The TikTok photo series, captioned “Guess the substance,” featured eight staff members in scrubs posing with bodily fluids visibly left on exam table paper. The text overlay on the first image read: “Are patients allowed to leave you guys gifts?”
Subsequent slides showed employees pointing, laughing, hovering over and even sticking out their tongues near questionable stains left behind from patients who had been examined at the clinic, that’s managed by Sutter Health.
The clip concluded with an image of the workers gathered around a stained exam table, with one posing on the bed as if praying. The final caption urged: “Make sure to leave your healthcare workers sweet gifts like these.”
Clip goes viral
Although the original TikTok was quickly deleted after gaining traction, it was far too late to contain the damage. The internet “did its thing” – with screen recordings, downloads, and stitched versions of the clip continuing to circulate widely.
The video has since exploded beyond TikTok, sparking heated discussions on Reddit, Instagram, and Yelp, where hundreds of users condemned the staff’s behavior as “dehumanizing,” “unprofessional,” and “unethical.”
Official response
The video was posted by a former Sansum Clinic employee who, according to Sutter Health left the organization in late July.
“We take this matter very seriously and are conducting a full review. Patient trust and dignity are always out top priority and any behavior that violates those standards is unacceptable,” Sutter Health shared in a Sept. 2 Instagram post.
“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.”
‘Ethical vandalism’
But the facility’s initial statement did little to calm the storm. Online, community members demanded stronger accountability, insisting that every staff member involved in the viral video should be terminated immediately.
“I cannot even begin to express how harmful that video was. Every single employee associated with that video needs to be fired immediately,” writes one user in the comment section of the Instagram post.
Another user shared how the scandal directly impacted their trust in medical care: “I was disgusted seeing that video. I’m about five months overdue for my annual exam, and it’s because of things like this. The employees in the video should be ashamed of themselves. What they did was not funny or lighthearted – it was cruel and embarrassing.”
A third commenter went even further, blasting the clinic’s official response as hollow: “Sansum Clinic’s statement is not an apology; it is a sterile exercise in reputational triage. Women do not submit to gynecological care to be transformed into spectacle. To exploit that vulnerability is not merely misconduct, it is ethical vandalism.”
Deleted hate
Initially, the clinic responded by deleting negative comments across social media – including on Yelp, where it was quickly hit with a flood of one-star reviews as outraged patients voiced their anger online, the Santa Barbara Independent reports.
Despite removing some of the scathing reviews, the backlash left a lasting mark on the clinic’s reputation.
“This practice is disgraceful and shames patients. I do not feel safe returning and I do not trust this team,” one netizen commented Sept. 3 on Sansum’s Yelp page – that as of Sept. 15 had only 1.5 stars.
Meanwhile on Facebook, users raged over the staffers who, “behind closed doors,” mocked “vulnerable, low-income patients who deserve dignity and respect.”
As the wave of hate kept coming, the urgent care clinic was forced into action.
Sutter takes action
On September 3, Sutter Health released a statement on its official page, announcing that all workers involved had been terminated that day.
“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,” the message said.
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