Officials at Denver Health said an anesthesiologist who posted racist comments about First Lady Michelle Obama will not be seeing patients "until further notice," according to The Denver Post.
According to the article, Michelle Herren, MD, a pediatric anesthesiologist at Denver-based Children's Hospital of Colorado and assistant professor of anesthesiology at the Colorado University School of Medicine in Aurora, made the racist comments on Facebook. Dr. Herren described the First Lady as having a "monkey face" and criticized her for speaking with "poor Ebonic English," according to the article.
An individual who saw Dr. Herren's comments on Facebook reported the comments to officials at Denver Health and the CU Board of Regents.
Kelli Christensen, a spokeswoman for Denver Health, said the system is researching potential legal action it can use to discipline Dr. Herren.
The system issued a statement stating that the comments constituted an "insult to the mission and values of Denver Health, and to staff and patients," according to the article.
Mark Couch, a spokesperson for the CU School of Medicine, said the dean of the school reached out to Dr. Herren directly regarding the Facebook post. According to Mr. Couch, the school is "reviewing the details of this matter and will ensure that its students and trainees and the patients who are served by our faculty are not exposed to unacceptable behavior."