A Florida woman masqueraded as a therapist online, counseling hundreds of Americans, possibly for as long as two years — and the ruse was only unpacked after her death, according to state health department records.
Tammy G. Heath-Randolph, 58, defrauded patients with the help of her wife, real social worker Peggy A. Randolph, according to a Florida Department of Health investigative report, which characterized their charade as a “coordinated effort.”
Randolph was licensed as a social worker in Florida and Tennessee and employed by San Francisco-based online mental health practice Brightside Health from January 2021 to February 2023.
The social worker was tapped to provide therapy services to hundreds of clients over video calls during her tenure, according to a Tennessee Department of Health settlement agreement.
She worked with her patients in person while her wife, posing as Randolph, treated patients over the phone, the report indicates. Heath-Randolph had no license or training.
But Randolph denied knowing her wife was “using her Brightside Health Therapist Portal log-in credentials or treating clients under her account,” according to the Tennessee agreement, despite receiving payments for the sessions.
After Heath-Randolph died on Feb. 11, 2023, one of Randolph’s patients said she discovered through social media that she had been surreptitiously treated by her wife. The patient reported the therapy trickery to Brightside.
The organization did an internal investigation and determined Randolph “shared her log-in credentials” with her wife.
Brightside terminated Randolph’s employment on Feb. 28, 2023. The Ellenton, Fla., resident voluntarily relinquished her licenses in both states. She also said she would not reapply for it in the future, per the Tennessee document.
The Tennessee board slapped her with a $1,000 fine along with the costs of the investigation.
“We’re extremely disappointed that a single provider was willing to violate the trust that Brightside and, most importantly, her patients had placed in her, as trust is the foundation of the patient and provider relationship in both telehealth and in-person care,” Brightside said.
Brightside reassigned patients, issued full reimbursement for related treatment and reported the case to federal authorities for investigation after the fraud was revealed.
Randolph didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.