WRHA official 'embarassed' over 2nd theft of medical records

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is apologizing for the second time this week after more confidential medical files were stolen from a health-care worker's vehicle.

In the latest case, a bag containing the care sheets of 25 people was stolen from the vehicle of a home-care employee on Jan. 17 in the downtown-Point Douglas area.

The sheets contained patients' names, addresses, medication details, health information numbers and other health information.

"We apologize to the people whose information was lost, and I'm unfortunately having to apologize again today," Ral Cloutier, the WRHA's chief operating officer, said in an interview Wednesday.

"People deserve to have confidence that we're going to protect their information."

Cloutier said he learned of the secondbreach after he spoke publiclyon Tuesday about the first incident, in which a case containing 67 patients' personal health information was stolen from an on-duty nurse's parked vehicle on Jan. 14.

• Winnipeg patient health information stolen from nurse's vehicle

"I'd be lying if I said [I was]anything but embarrassed. It's unfortunate for the clients who have their information lost. I mean, yesterday I talked about [how] we need to be resolute in making sure that our policies are followed," Cloutier said.

"We thought it was important to go out publicly and explain to the public that this had happened a second time."

Cloutier said most of the home-care worker's clients are seniors, but not exclusively.

WRHA reviewing policies

Staff reported the matter to police and started contacting the affected clients, he said, but added that they did not tell senior officials right away about what happened.

"For some reason, there was no notification process to the director level and up to myself within the health region," he said.

"It is frustrating. This is the second theft and I think it will resonate with the public worry about things getting stolen out of their car but we need to make sure that information is kept with the staff at all times."

Cloutier said the WRHA is reviewing its policies and orientation practices, and he has asked all of the agency's managers to talk to community care workers about patient privacy in the coming days.

There is a firm policy that says health-care workers must keep patients' medical information on them at all times, not left in their vehicles, he said.

Cloutier said officials will be following up with both employees who left the health documents in their vehicles.