Spears was a patient in the medical center's psychiatric ward earlier this year.

The Los Angeles Times cited a source close to the situation who said the hospital is taking steps to fire at least 13 employees for checking out Spears' private medical files.

The hospital has also suspended at least six others, while an additional six physicians face discipline for going through her computerized records, the newspaper said.

UCLA officials circulated a memo the morning Spears was admitted, reminding employees not to look through records unless directly caring for a patient because doing so would violate a federal patient privacy law, the Times said.