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Employees of Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) in Florida have been subjected to "threatening, verbally abusive messages," including death threats, in recent weeks, according to a hospital spokesperson and the local police.

Two messages shared on the encrypted messaging app Telegram targeted two doctors at SMH, threatening violence over accusations of misconduct in their treatment of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement shared with 乌鸦传媒, an SMH spokesperson said that a large majority of the messages and voicemails received by the hospital staff and physicians have come from people outside the community, and in many cases, outside the state.

"The misinformation and misleading messages and social posts are part of an organized political campaign that is hurtful not only to our physicians and staff, but also to our community," the spokesperson said. "Our first priority is addressing the unfounded attack on our staff and deceitful social media posts and reviews that threaten the reputation of a great hospital, great doctors, and the entire community we serve."

A Sarasota Police Department report revealed that the doctors received death threats in comments shared on an open forum on Telegram. According to the report, the messages threatened violence against the SMH doctors, using profanity and threatening emojis, in response to another commenter's post accusing the hospital of corruption.

The report also highlighted one message that called for an SMH doctor to be shot alongside three water gun emojis in response to a post that accused the doctor of intimidating patients based on COVID prevention measures.

The police investigated the matter but were not able to determine the identity of the person behind the threats, due to a lack of profile information.

said the threats and abuse were spurred by ongoing criticism of the hospital for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and several threats came after was released last month. The review found that SMH had treated more than 70% of all COVID patients in Sarasota County in the previous 3 years, and concluded that the hospital "performed strongly across a wide range of assessment areas."

The news report also detailed a threat left in a voicemail for a hospital employee that said the SMH staff might be subjected to a fate similar to the subjects of the Nuremberg trials, noting that some of those trials ended by hanging.

The SMH spokesperson denounced the attacks and emphasized that these threats are part of a politically motivated campaign against the hospital and its physicians and staff, adding that the hospital is preparing for more in the coming year.

"It is important for the public to be aware of the political motivations fueling this misinformation campaign, to know the hateful messages are coming from people who do not live anywhere near Sarasota County and have never been patients of Sarasota Memorial, so that we as a community can stand up against these bully tactics and be prepared to protect the health of our community and its top-ranked health system through the upcoming election season," the spokesperson said.

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