Former Eastern Health employee snooped 11 patient files

An Eastern Health employee whoinappropriately accessed the health information of 11 patientsis no longer employed with the health authority.

Eastern Health saysthe privacy breaches that took place over several monthswerediscovered after two affectedpatientsraisedconcerns.

As a result, the employee, who provided clerical support at a St. John's facility,is no longer employed with Eastern Health, saida news release from the health authority on Tuesday.

• Privacy breach accessed 20 patient records: Eastern Health

• 5 employees fired after Eastern Health privacy breaches

"Eastern Health has absolutely no tolerance for deliberate breaches of patient privacy and we take the appropriate disciplinary action. It is completely unacceptable for any employee to violate patient trust and/or disregard the organization's privacy and confidentiality policies," said David Diamond, President and CEO.

"On behalf of Eastern Health, I publicly apologize to the patients whose privacy has been breached and assure the people we serve that we take our responsibility as a custodian of personal health information very seriously."

Eastern Health saidit has identifiedthe patients whose privacy was compromised and is contacting them. It saysthe Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has also been informed.