The territorial health department says it has recovered a stack of medical records after a Fort Simpson man reportedly found them at the dump last week.
Randy Sibbeston told CBC North last week that he found hundreds of records in a bankers box at the Fort Simpson dump. According to the news story, the documents contain names, SIN numbers and sensitive information pertaining to substance abuse and mental health.
After the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) was made aware of the privacy breach, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories (IPC) was notified, a news release from the territorial health authority stated.
"The IPC initiated a review under the Health Information Act and has secured the return of the documents from the individual who had them in their possession. The individual turned the documents over to the RCMP," the news release stated.
“This is a disturbing and evolving situation," said Sue Cullen, CEO of the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority in a statement.
"Now that files are in secure possession, we will be working hard to identify their source, understand how this situation developed and take all action necessary to notify individuals whose private information has been breached. We commit to providing the public with updates as more information becomes available regarding what has happened and our plan for addressing it,” stated Cullen.
The medical files will now be transported to Yellowknife where RCMP will turn them over to Information and Privacy Commissioner, Elaine Keenan Bengts. The NTHSSA said it will be working to investigate the cause of the incident "with a focus on accountability, policy and processes to ensure we can prevent further breaches."
The health authority said it is co-operating with the privacy commissioner and will be working to confirm that secure file practices are in place in Fort Simpson.
This incident is the most recent in a series of breaches of patient information from the territorial government. In June, a laptop containing the health data of up to 80 per cent of NWT residents was stolen from a car in Ottawa. In 2014, a USB stick with 4,000 records was lost but eventually found. In 2010 and 2012, health department staff mistakenly faxed medical records to CBC North’s office.
Sibbeston had not responded to requests for an interview by the time this story was published.
-- with files from Tim Edwards