Personal Health Information Privacy Statement
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit is committed to respecting privacy and protecting personal health information. The Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA) directs how personal health information is managed by health care agencies.
The staff of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit collects personal health information directly from individuals or from the person acting on their behalf. Staff collects only as much personal health information as is needed to do their jobs. It may be necessary to collect personal health information about individuals from other sources, if consent to do so has been given and if the law permits.
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit collects, uses, and shares personal health information to:
- provide health services,
- plan, administer, and manage programs and services,
- conduct quality improvement activities,
- compile statistics to assess the health of our population,
- comply with legal and regulatory requirements,
- fulfill other purposes permitted or required by law.
Protecting Personal Health Information
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit takes steps to ensure that all employees who provide services protect privacy and use personal health information only for the purposes described above.
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit takes steps to protect personal health information from theft, loss and unauthorized access, copying, modification, use, disclosure and disposal. Personal health information is kept confidential and is available only to authorized employees. Personal health information is kept secure in a locked or restricted area. In the case of computer records, they are password protected.
Requesting Health Records
Any person for whom the Eastern Ontario Health Unit holds a record may request and correct personal health records, or withdraw consent for some of the above uses and disclosures, subject to legal exceptions.
How to Contact the Eastern Ontario Health Unit
For more information about privacy protection practices, or to raise a concern about these practices, please contact the Eastern Ontario Health Unit’s Head Office at 613-933-1375 or 1 800 267-7120 and ask for the Manager, Continuous Quality Improvement.
How to Contact the Privacy Commissioner
Individuals have the right to contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario if they believe that their privacy rights have not been handled properly. The Commissioner can be reached at:
Information and Privacy Commissioner for Ontario
2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400
Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8
Telephone: 1-800-387-0073
