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Bargaining to resume in education labour dispute Page A5
TUESDAY
Tuesday, August 5, 2014 X Volume 27 No. 91
Kamloops, B.C., Canada X 30 cents at Newsstands
THIS WEEK
Is this blankie yours? Page A3 ation titioonns L Li imi mitteed P Pa art rtne nerrssshi hip hi Thompson River Publications Limited Partnership
1,628 PATIENTS AT RIH HAD THEIR PRIVACY BREACHED By Dale Bass STAFF REPORTER dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
infected me with something,” a concern that harkens back to a few years ago, when RIH patients received letters advising them of sterility issues during invasive procedures they had undergone. “The mailman said all he knew is they were delivering hundreds of them all over the city,” she said, adding she wants more assurance about who might have read her file, which included her name, date of birth, personal health number and other health information.
Royal Inland Hospital has advised 1,628 patients their privacy has been violated. Nancy Serwo, acting administrator at the hospital, said two boxes of records were returned to the hospital on June 16 after they were discovered in a filing cabinet the hospital had donated elsewhere last year. The best estimate of when the equipment was disposed of is last October, Serwo said, though she could not identify who received it. The letter sent to patients states no one asked for identification from the person who returned the boxes to the hospital, which has made it difficult to investigate the breach. Serwo would not identify where the cabi- This is one of 1,628 letters sent to patients of Royal Inland nets had been used in the Hospital, advising them that their medical records were hospital, saying it was a sent out of the hospital in a discarded filing cabinet in October 2013. In June of this year, someone returned the specific, isolated area. two boxes of records to RIH. Andrea Klassen/KTW However, KTW spoke with one of the letter “I don’t know who they gave it to. recipients, who provided a copy of the I don’t know who might have rifled letter. through it.” The woman, upset her medical priSerwo said she took possession of vacy had been breached, requested her the boxes on June 16 and was confiname not be published. dent, after inspecting them, that they Her letter said her file involved in had not been read beyond identifying the breach included a diagnostic polythey were medical records and needed somnogram test result. to be returned. A polysomnogram is a sleepBut, Serwo added, she understands disorder test. her confidence might not be enough to The woman said her first reaction, remove any worries from those 1,628 when she was handed the registered patients. letter from RIH, was to wonder “if they were going to tell me they had X See PATIENTS A12
PINT-SIZED POWWOW PERFECTION The 35th annual Kamloopa Powwow wowed all who attended on the B.C. Day long weekend, with dancers young and old taking part in the hugely popular event, which every year welcomes performers and spectators from across Canada and the western U.S. To see more photos, turn to page A18 and go online to kamloopsthisweek.com. Allen Douglas/KTW
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