There is one COVID outbreak at Quinte Health hospitals:
Belleville General Hospital Quinte 5 Medicine Unit – COVID-positive patients on this unit may have one (1) consistent visitor at this time. All asymptomatic patients may continue to have two (2) visitors at a time.
As a Quinte Health patient, you can expect that your privacy will be respected. We take steps to protect your personal health information from theft, loss, unauthorized access or use.
We collect your personal health information directly from you or from the person acting on your behalf. This may include your contact information, medical history, records of the care you received during prior hospital visits, etc. We may also collect personal health information about you from other sources if we have obtained your consent or if the law permits.
We use and disclose your personal health information as necessary to:
Treat and care for you;
Process payment for your treatment from OHIP, WSIB, your insurer, and others;
Plan and manage the hospitals and our services;
Compile statistics;
Conduct quality improvement activities, such as sending you a patient satisfaction survey; and
Comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
We also disclose your mailing address to our Foundations so that they may conduct fundraising to improve our services.
If you have a concern or question about the protection of your personal information at Quinte Health, please contact the Privacy Officer by email to privacy@qhc.on.ca or by phone at 613-969-7400 ext. 2578.
If you believe that the personal information we have recorded about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you can:
Raise this with your care provider;
Make an informal request for Quinte Health to change your information (e.g., to update your address);
Make a formal request through the Freedom of Information Coordinator by following these steps:
Put your request to correct your personal information in writing by completing the form. Indicate the desired correction and, if applicable, provide supporting documentation.
Include your name, address, and day-time telephone number.
Submit your written request to Quinte Health’s Freedom of Information Coordinator (details on form) with the $5 application fee. To protect your privacy, we do not accept freedom of information requests by fax or e-mail.
When a request for correction is received, the hospital must determine whether the information submitted for correction can be verified. In some cases, the hospital will require documentary proof to support the request.
To request a correction of personal health information, contact the Department of Health Records at (613) 969-7400, ext. 2280.
All Ontario Hospitals, including Quinte Health, have a responsibility to protect personal information in its custody from unauthorized access or disclosure. A privacy breach is an incident involving the unauthorized collection, use or disclosure of personal health information. We have preventative systems in place including ongoing audits and education/awareness campaigns for members of our hospital teams.
When a privacy breach is discovered, the incident is acted on immediately. It is reported to the appropriate manager and to Quinte Health’s Privacy Officer to investigate. Actions will be taken to contain the breach and put processes in place to prevent further breaches. In all cases, as part of the notification requirements, we contact individuals to let them know about the privacy breach, including the nature and scope of the breach.
We have a tremendous team of compassionate frontline care providers at Quinte Health that take a tremendous amount of pride in protecting patient health information as part of serving our communities. We are committed to continuing to improve our systems and processes to maintain the confidentiality of our patients’ health information.
