Facing a lawsuit filed by dozens of women, a California hospital is publicly apologizing for setting up security cameras they acknowledge captured patients during their visits.
According to WFLA, Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa is named in the lawsuit by more than 80 individuals who say private moments including gynecological surgeries in three operating rooms were part of the footage collected by the cameras.
The allegations date back three years to a class-action lawsuit in which one woman said her C-section delivery was recorded on the stop-motion cameras reportedly installed to help hospital staff catch a suspected drug thief.
In an interview with KNSD, alleged victim Melissa Escalera said she “would have never agreed to be recorded in that vulnerable moments” if she had known a camera was recording.
“No one ever asked me to record one of my most tender, life-changing moment,” she said.
Its letter released on Thursday revealed that the hospital had installed the cameras with the intention of capturing what happened near the anesthesia carts. But it confirmed some staff and patients were included in the footage captured during the process.
The hospital went on to say that it no longer uses the cameras and footage collected was kept in a secure location. The individual suspected of theft has since been fired, the letter concluded.
“We sincerely apologize that our efforts may have caused any distress to the women who were recorded, their families, and others we serve,” the hospital wrote.
[Featured image: Pixabay]
