Chatham-Kent Health Alliance says 2 employees 'inappropriately' accessed health records of 120 patients

Chatham-Kent Health Alliance said two employees who "inappropriately" accessed the health records of about 120 patients have been fired.

CKHA said it discovered the issue during a recent audit of electronic health records, and immediately launched an investigation.

"Based on the result of the investigation and given the lack of pattern to the inappropriate accesses, it was determined these are cases of random snooping due to curiosity," the organization stated in a media release. "CKHA can also confirm that the employees did not copy or print the health records that were inappropriately accessed. Snooping is unacceptable and the employees no longer work for CKHA."

A CKHA spokesperson told CBC News on Wednesday that both employees were terminated as a result of the breach.

The breaches have been reported to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, and all patients whose records were accessed have been notified, CKHA said.

"CKHA is committed to patient centred care and preserving patients' trust in the care they are receiving and the staff providing that care," Lori Marshall, CKHA president and CEO said in a statement. "We regret that these privacy breaches happened. We will continue the routine auditing of patient electronic health records."

CKHA said it currently provides annual privacy training to employees, and will now "implement further privacy education" via internal communication channels.