A laptop that contained confidential information of patients in the pulmonary function lab has been stolen from the Burnbay hospital. The Burnaby RCMP and the Fraser Health Authority are investigating the matter.
The theft happened in mid-August and 635 patients are affected, according to David Plug, spokesperson for the health authority. “We sent out letters to them this week notifying them of what happened and we also notified the privacy commissioner,” said Plug. “There’s no indication any of the information on that computer has been disseminated.”
He also added, “The RCMP has been notified and they are investigating, we take patient records security very seriously so we’re taking this investigation very seriously.”
Plug said the laptop might not be password protected or using any encryption. “That’s something we’re looking into,” he said. “We’re also looking at our overall security, whether we need to have more office locks or more security upgrades.”
Though, Plug also added that the thief might have been caught on the hospitals surveillance cameras.
The affected patients are being notified of the security breach and the health authority is offering them support along with complimentary one-year subscription to a credit monitoring service.
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