Health information at risk after hospital equipment theft

Alberta Health Services is notifying patients of a privacy breach after an equipment theft at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.

AHS is mailing notifications to 6,129 Albertans whose health information may have been viewed.

In April 2019, two hard drives were stolen from the Rehabilitation Department at the hospital.

The hard drives were removed from the Electromyogram (EMG) and one Electroencephalogram (EEG) machine.  Only the EMG machine contained patient information.

Investigators believe the risk of the information being used or misused is extremely low.

AHS Privacy and Red Deer RCMP investigated the break-in.  It was also reported to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner  of Alberta, and a review of security in the hospital area is now underway.

Anyone who receives a notification letter can direct questions to a dedicated call-line available through Health Link (811).