GENERAL MANUAL POLICY
Issued By: Information Management Team
Date Issued: July 2004
Date Revised: August 2004
SUBJECT: PRIVACY POLICY
Our Commitment
Saint Vincent's Guest House is committed to protecting the privacy of its residents, employees, families, and other stakeholders. As a home for the aged we conduct our activities with the level of professionalism expected of a health care organization. We value the trust of those we deal with, and of the public, and recognize that maintaining this trust requires that we be transparent and accountable in how we treat the collected information. Anyone from whom we collect such information should expect that it will be carefully protected and that any use of or other dealing with this information is subject to consent. We do not sell or trade information with others. Our privacy practices are designed to achieve this goal.
Defining Personal Information
Personal information is any information that can be used to distinguish, identify or contact a specific individual. The type of information collected and protected by this privacy policy is reflective of the relationship Saint Vincent's Nursing Home has with the individual and may include personal identifiers, health information, financial history, social history, billing data, payroll, human resource details, contribution history and performance and evaluation data.
We collect, protect, use, and retain personal information to:
Exceptions: business contact information and certain publicly available information, such as name, address and telephone number as published in the telephone directory, are not considered personal information. Where an individual uses his or her home contact information as business contact information as well, we consider that the contact information provided is business contact information, and is not therefore subject to protection as personal information.
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GENERAL MANUAL POLICY
Administration I-115
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Privacy Practices
Personal information gathered by our organization is kept in confidence. Our employees are authorized to access personal information based only on their need to deal with the information for the reason(s) for which it was obtained. Safeguards are in place to ensure that the information is not disclosed or shared more widely than is necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was gathered. We also take measures to ensure the integrity of this information is maintained and to prevent its being lost or destroyed.
Saint Vincent's Nursing Home collects, uses and discloses personal information only for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in light of the circumstances. We only share personal information with third parties who are engaged to provide a product or service. For example, when transporting residents to and from hospital and outside appointments, personal information on advance directives and pertinent medical information may be required by the transporter or outside service provider.
In an effort to provide seamless privacy protection to residents, all third party service providers must also have a privacy policy comparable to Saint Vincent's Nursing Home.
Consent
BY SUBMITTING PERSONAL INFORMATION, YOU AGREE TO COLLECTION, USE AND DISCLOSURE OF SUCH PERSONAL INFORMATION BY SVGH FOR THE PURPOSES DESCRIBED IN AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND AS PERMITTED OR REQUIRED BY LAW.
Updating of Privacy Policy
We regularly review our privacy practices for our various activities, and update our policy. The up-to-date policy is posted on the Saint Vincent's Nursing Home website: www.svnh.ca
Contact Information
Questions, concerns or complaints relating to the privacy policy of Saint Vincent's Nursing Home on the treatment of personal information should be e-mailed to: info@svnh.ca, Attention: Privacy Officer.
Further information on privacy and your rights in regard to your personal information may be found on the website of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at www.privcom.gc.ca/