Sansum Clinic Staff Terminated Following Viral TikTok Incident

Santa Barbara, Sept. 5, 2025 - Sutter Health confirmed today that multiple employees at its Sansum Clinic Pesetas Urgent Care facility have been terminated after a TikTok video mocking patients went viral over Labor Day weekend.

According to clinic officials, a now-deleted slideshow posted by a former employee showed staff posing with what appeared to be bodily fluids on exam tables and jokingly captioned the images as “gifts” from patients. The original poster, who left the clinic in July, was not employed at the time of the upload, but others featured in the footage have been dismissed for violating the organization’s social media policies.

Within 24 hours of becoming aware of the post, Sansum Clinic placed the employees on administrative leave. The terminations were completed shortly thereafter, following a full internal review. “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 said in a statement.

The incident prompted an outpouring of condemnation on social media platforms such as Reddit and Instagram, where users criticized the mockery as “dehumanizing” and raised concerns about patient privacy and professional standards. The clinic also experienced a surge of negative reviews on Yelp and Google Reviews in the wake of the controversy.

Sutter Health emphasized that patient trust and dignity remain its highest priorities and announced it will reinforce its comprehensive social media guidelines across all facilities. “We expect all team members to live our patients-first mission and uphold the highest standards of compassion, professionalism and respect,” the statement added.