Two employees at Jacksonville, Fla.-based Memorial Hospital say roaches have been roaming the hospital's kitchen for about a month, local CBS and FOX affiliate Action News Jax reports.
One of the employees, who requested to remain anonymous for fear of losing their job, sent the station pictures and videos showing roaches crawling around the hospital kitchen.
"They don't need to serve anybody anything out of that kitchen until it's bug-free," the employee said, adding that they're concerned about bacteria or viruses that cockroaches may carry and contaminate food with. The employee also claimed a customer has complained to them about a bug in their food.
"We are committed to keeping all areas of the hospital clean and safe," a hospital spokesperson told Action News Jax. "Our kitchen is inspected and treated by pest control experts at least once a week. Our most recent treatment was yesterday. Our kitchen is also inspected annually by The Joint Commission. We passed our most recent inspection."
The Agency for Health Care Administration said it would perform a complaint investigation related to food service and sanitation, though it doesn't routinely conduct hospital food safety inspections, according to the report.
After the story aired, a second employee contacted the station with the same concern.
Editor's note: Becker's has reached out to Memorial Hospital and will update the report as more information becomes available.