Woman convicted of illegitimately accessing health information at Edmonton clinic

EDMONTON – A woman who worked at the Kaye Edmonton Clinic has pleaded guilty to illegitimately accessing the health information of seven people on 44 different occasions.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) said Denise Tourneur pleaded guilty to breaking the Health Information Act on Feb. 5.

The OIPC first began its investigation after Alberta Health Services reported a privacy breach in October 2013 and charges were subsequently laid in 2015.

A judge has fined Tourneur $1,000.

It’s the fourth time someone has been found guilty of such an offence since the Health Information Act was first enacted in 2001.

The maximum penalty for an offence is $50,000.