A Florida woman posed as a therapist online and offered counseling to hundreds of Americans for what may have been two years, but the practice was only discovered after her death, state health department records show.
Tammy G. Heath Randolph, 58, deceived patients with the help of her wife, Peggy A. Randolph, a real-life social worker. According to an investigation report by the Florida Department of Healthdescribed their farce as a “coordinated effort.”
Randolph is a licensed social worker in Florida and Tennessee and worked at Bright Side Health, a San Francisco-based online mental health clinic, from January 2021 to February 2023.
During their tenure, social workers have been asked to provide therapy services to hundreds of clients via video calls. According to a settlement agreement with the Tennessee Department of Health..
According to the report, Heath Randolph, who was unlicensed and untrained, treated patients in person and his wife treated them over the phone, posing as Randolph.
But Randolph denied knowing his wife was “using Brightside Health Therapist Portal login credentials or treating clients under her account” despite being paid for the sessions, according to the Tennessee agreement.
After Heath Randolph Died on February 11, 2023One of Randolph’s patients said he found out he’d been secretly receiving treatment from his wife through social media. The patient reported the treatment deception to Bright Side.
The organization conducted an internal investigation and found that Randolph had “shared login credentials with his wife.”
Bright Side terminated Randolph’s employment on Feb. 28, 2023. The Ellenton, Florida, resident voluntarily surrendered his licenses in both states. He also said he would not reapply, according to Tennessee documents.
The Tennessee commission fined her $1,000 along with investigation costs.
“Trust is the foundation of the patient-provider relationship, both remotely and in person, so we are extremely disappointed that a single provider would betray Brightside and, more importantly, the trust her patients have placed in her,” Brightside said.
After discovering the fraud, Bright Side reassigned patients, fully refunded the costs of related treatments, and asked federal authorities to investigate.
Randolph did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment.
