Mar 17, 2015

Earlier today, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) held a press conference to advise the public about a privacy breach involving the inappropriate access by a former WRHA employee to the health information of at least 56 people. Our office was made aware of this breach on March 6, when the WRHA was in the preliminary stages of its investigation.

Under Part 4 of The Personal Health Information Act (PHIA), the ombudsman may initiate investigations and audits and make recommendations to monitor and ensure compliance with the act. Our office has initiated a review of the WRHA’s handing of the privacy breach and will continue to work with the WRHA to ensure that all reasonable steps have been taken to respond to the breach, and to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the privacy of patients.

“We will continue to work with the WRHA, and to investigate the concerns of any individuals contacting us who may be affected by this breach,” said Acting Manitoba Ombudsman Mel Holley.

Any person who has been notified of this breach has a right to make a complaint to Manitoba Ombudsman and may do so by contacting our office at 204-982-9130 or 1-800-665-0531.

Affected individuals, who wish to obtain either records of user activity or copies of personal health information that was viewed, should contact the chief privacy officer of the WRHA.

To find out more information about your health information rights concerning eChart, please see our brochure: https://www.ombudsman.mb.ca/uploads/document/files/echart-web-en.pdf

Any Manitoban has a right to receive a list of health-care providers who have viewed their personal health information in eChart. This list is called a record of user access. For information about making a request for a record of user access visit http://www.echartmanitoba.ca/mbForms.html or contact eChart: echart@manitoba-ehealth.ca, 1-855-203-4528 (toll free), fax (204) 926-9148.