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Information Practice Statement - Elgin St. Thomas Public Health

The Elgin St. Thomas Public Health is committed to keeping your personal information safe. Your privacy is important to us.

Collection of Personal Information
The Elgin St. Thomas Public Health collects personal information from clients and other authorized people in order to deliver effective public health programs and services. The kind of personal health information the Health Unit collects may include:

• Name, address, date of birth, and Ontario health card number
• Facts about health, individual/family health history, and exposures to disease
• Information about payment for health care when required for certain services

Personal information may be collected through a face-to-face meeting, over the phone, through written material, and/or electronically.

Our website collects electronic cookies; however, we do not track personal information through these cookies. Currently, we are using Google Analytics to analyze the audience of the website and to improve our content. No personal information is collected from Google Analytics. For further information on the privacy policy concerning Google Analytics, please go to http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/analytics/privacyoverview.html

Use & Disclosure of Personal Information
The primary use of personal information collected by the Health Unit is to plan, deliver, and evaluate our services. When necessary, personal health information may be shared within departments to provide care and to investigate and manage potential risks to others. Non-identifying client information may be used for administration, planning, research, and/or allocation of resources.

The Health Protection and Promotion Act (1990) legislates the reporting of some personal information (e.g., diagnoses of communicable diseases). This allows the Health Unit to share personal health information with other health units and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The Personal Health Information Protection Act (2004) permits that personal health information can also be shared among health care providers to plan and deliver health care or to investigate and manage potential risks to others.

The Elgin St. Thomas Public Health will not share any personal health information without your consent unless the law requires it or it is permitted by the Personal Health Information Protection Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (2000). If you have provided consent to share information, you have the right to withdraw or change the condition of the consent subject to the provisions set out in the Personal Health Information Protection Act.

Protection of Personal Information
Personal information is kept secure by the Elgin St. Thomas Public Health. Any document with personal information is stored in locked files and/or within a secure area. All electronic records require a password for access. All Health Unit staff members are aware of the sensitive nature of your personal information and are trained in the appropriate use, disclosure, and protection of your information. Once records are no longer required the contents are destroyed.

Access to Personal Information
If you wish to access or correct your personal information or if you have questions about how your personal information is collected, maintained, used, or disclosed, contact the Elgin St. Thomas Public Health at 519-631-9900 or 1-800-922-0096.

For more information or to submit a written complaint, contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner at 416-326-3333.