Alberta Children's Hospital privacy breach leads to 26 charges

A privacy breach at the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary has resulted in 26 charges being laidagainst a staff member.

The incident was investigated by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the charges were laid under the Health Information Act.

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Alberta Health Services (AHS) initially reported the incident.This is the sixth time charges have been laid under the act.

The maximum penalty for each offence is $50,000.

An Alberta privacy watchdog told CBC News in early Octoberthere has been a spike in privacy breaches of electronic medical records, calling it an "epidemic."

It came afterAHSannouncedthat 48 health-care workers werefacing disciplinary action after one patient's medical records were "inappropriately" accessed. One has been fired and 47 others weresuspended without pay for the investigation.