SPRINGFIELD — A Massachusetts neurologist who was caught masturbating in his hospital office by up to 20 cancer center employees watching through his windows is back treating patients after state regulators suspended his license, then promptly un-suspended it and handed him five years of probation instead.
Dr. Robert A. Martin. (Baystate Health)
Martin, a 2017 graduate of the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine, has been board-certified in neurology since 2021 and has worked in Baystate's Neurology Department at the Springfield campus since October 2022.
Dr. Robert A. Martin admitted to masturbating in his locked administrative office at Baystate Medical Center on the afternoon of November 21, 2023, according to a consent order from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. His office, located at 3300 Main Street in Springfield, has two large windows that look directly across the street at Baystate Health's D'Amour Center for Cancer Care — which was still open and seeing patients at the time.
Between 4:00 and 5:00 that afternoon, approximately 10 to 20 cancer center employees looked up from their workplace and saw Martin doing what he was doing. They reported him to security and hospital administrators, who launched an immediate investigation.
One cancer center employee who spoke with the Boston Globe said she saw Martin standing partly undressed in the center of his office, facing the windows, with his penis in one hand and his cellphone in the other.
She filmed the incident. Baystate officials, she said, refused to look at the footage.
'Simply a very unfortunate lapse in judgment'
Martin had seen six patients earlier that day, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., according to the consent order. He then returned to his administrative office — which sits on a floor shared with two other departments and patient examination rooms — and remained there until approximately 5:00 p.m.
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His attorney, Paul Cirel, insisted in a statement that the whole thing was simply a misunderstanding.
"At the time of this incident, Dr. Martin was alone in his locked administrative office. He was standing behind his worktable, across the room from the window," Cirel said. "This was not an act of exhibitionism; it was simply a very unfortunate lapse in judgment."
A very unfortunate lapse in judgment. In an office with two large windows facing a cancer treatment center. During business hours. While employees across the street watched.
Suspended — then un-suspended
The Board of Registration in Medicine initially suspended Martin's license indefinitely over the incident. But the suspension was stayed almost immediately after Martin agreed to enter into a five-year probation agreement that included behavioral health monitoring, a workplace monitor, and ongoing treatment.
Nine days after the incident, Martin voluntarily contacted the Physicians Health Services program. By May 2024, he had a behavioral health monitoring contract. By October, the Board signed off on the deal.
By fall 2024, he was back seeing patients.
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"[He] resumed his practice in the fall of 2024 and has practiced without incident or blemish ever since," Cirel said.
The consent order's own findings
Even the Board's own consent order acknowledged what happened was more than an oops. The document found that Martin had engaged in "disruptive behavior," committed "misconduct in the practice of medicine," and — in the Board's own carefully chosen legal language — "lacked good moral character and engaged in conduct that undermines the public confidence in the integrity of the medical profession."
They wrote all of that down. Then they let him go back to work.
The cancer center employee who reported Martin told the Globe she "questioned his ability to provide safe care" and worried "that there may have been an underlying sexual issue that could cause him to harm others."
Baystate Health declined to comment on specifics, saying it does not discuss personnel matters, but noted it has "established systems and processes to govern compliance with any conditions and guidance issued by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine."
The case was first reported by the Boston Globe, which prompted state officials to release an unredacted version of the consent order this week. A spokesperson for the Board told the Globe the details had been "redacted erroneously."
The consent order, probation agreement, and original voluntary agreement not to practice are available as public records on the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine website.
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