A nurse at Lee's Summit, Mo.-based Saint Luke's East Hospital who posted photos of herself and another person in blackface is no longer employed, the hospital told The Kansas City Star.
KCUR published a screenshot of a photo allegedly from nurse Shelbi Elliott-Heenan's Facebook page, which appears to have been deleted as of Oct. 30. The photo, which is captioned "Jay Z and Beyonce," shows a man and woman in costume. The woman is wearing dark makeup.
The hospital became aware of the photos Oct. 29, after which the "information was shared with appropriate health system personnel and an investigation was initiated immediately," a Saint Luke's spokesperson told The Kansas City Star.
"While it is against Saint Luke's policy to comment on specific personnel matters, we can confirm that this individual is no longer a Saint Luke's employee," the spokesperson said.
After Facebook user Lynese Sade complained about the nurse and said "I do not feel that it is safe having a racist employee working with the public," hospital officials responded by saying Saint Luke's is "committed to providing the highest level of care and treating all our patients with dignity and respect and this does not fit with the core values of our organization."
The Saint Luke's investigation is ongoing.
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