CHARLOTTE TOWN – Prince Edward Island health officials are advising the public of the privacy breach resulting from the theft of a laptop computer reported in early April.
In a press release, Health Î.-P.-É. It reveals that the employee’s laptop contains information on more than 4,000 patients and more than 1,200 employees of the agency.
The organization says the theft was reported to the police the day after the robbery, but no date has been set. It says the laptop was password protected and steps were taken to secure the information as quickly as possible. The body estimates that the probability of someone accessing the information is “low”.
Health PEI says it has sent messages to anyone whose information may have been breached, and says the county’s Commissioner for Information and Privacy will conduct a private life review to investigate the breach with the department.
Dr. Michael Jardam, CEO of Health PEI, has issued an apology to those affected by the breach. “Prince Edward Island Health is conducting a full review of this situation to ensure that any gaps in our protocols are exposed, so we can make changes to improve the security of patient information,” Dr. Gardam said.
Health PEI said the majority of information related to patients’ visits to emergency departments on the island between September 1, 2021 and October 13, 2021, including the reason for the visit, the diagnosis and the name of the attending physician. The information also included the patient’s name, date of birth, Medicare card number, gender, and zip code.
The laptop also contained personal information for more than 1,200 Health PEI long-term care employees, including name, job title, hours and salary. No bank of financial information is included in these files.
