Employee accessed dozens of patient records without permission: Health PEI

Prince County Hospital in Prince Edward Island is pictured on Feb. 1, 2024.

A Health PEI employee accessed dozens of patient records without permission at the Prince County Hospital last year, prompting an investigation.

Health PEI says the unnamed employee accessed 105 personal patient records from July 1 to Oct. 15, 2024. The person was subsequently fired.

“This is a terrible breach of privacy and should never have happened,” said Mel Fraser, CEO of Health PEI, in a news release. “This individual broke the rules, violating the privacy and confidentiality of Islanders who entrust our health care system and our staff to safeguard their personal health information. I want to reassure the public we have measures in place to monitor staff access to patient information and we take action when privacy breaches are detected or reported.”

Health PEI says they have sent letters to the people impacted by the privacy breach. The Information and Privacy Commissioner will review Health PEI’s response to the incident.

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