**** NSHA Media Release

Nova Scotia Health apologizes to those affected by 2020 privacy breaches

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner shared their report on intentional employee privacy breaches following the Mass Casualty in 2020.

We apologize to each impacted patient. This breach added further unnecessary harm to the families of those who lost loved ones in April 2020. We deeply regret that this breach took place.

It is essential that Nova Scotians trust us to protect their personal health information. It is shared with us at a time when you’re at your most vulnerable and should never be subject to the curiosity of others.

The actions of those employees do not reflect our corporate culture, or the behaviour of most of our staff and physicians. Nova Scotia Health is committed to protecting the confidentiality of patient information and to following the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA).

We would also like to thank the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for their thorough investigation and report. We’ve formally followed-up to accept most of the 12 recommendations.