The CEO of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance is apologizing for a privacy breach that happened two months ago.
Hospital officials say on March 6th, a document containing sensitive health information of seven patients was found on the front lawn of a community member.
Lori Marshall says it took so long to report the breach because of the lengthy investigation and notifying the privacy commissioner.
Marshall says how the document ended up on the front lawn is still a mystery and could have come from the hospital, a doctor's office or elsewhere.
"Another individual who may have been cleaning out their files and that's how we believe the document ended up there. It was a very windy day and someone may have been cleaning out files, put them in the garbage and they flew away," says Marshall.
The document was a copy of an Operating Room report and included the patients' names, dates of birth, ages, health card numbers, phone numbers, procedures, and surgeons' names.
Marshall says there are new safeguards in place including viewing the information electronically and not printing.
"People don't actually have to print out that information. So, we request that they don't print out that information if at all possible and then if they do print it out that they make sure that's it's properly shredded within our organization and it ought not be leaving the hospital premises, "Marshall says.
