Ottawa Hospital apologizes for privacy breach among unvaccinated employees
The Ottawa Hospital says it has apologized to employees whose names were mistakenly visible on a mass email to unvaccinated staff last week.
A letter from the hospital's human resources office, obtained by CTV News Ottawa, said a system-generated email sent Sept. 8 to "employees who have declined the COVID-19 vaccination" included staff email addresses in the "To" section and not as blind carbon copies.
The original email, which CTV News Ottawa has not seen, was an invitation to complete an educational module about COVID-19 vaccination.
In a statement, the Ottawa Hospital said the issue was addressed promptly.
"This past week, an email was sent from one of our software systems to a list of unvaccinated staff members, inviting them to complete a vaccine education session. The staff names were unfortunately visible," the statement said. "The email was immediately recalled and all copies were deleted. An apology and explanation was sent to the staff members affected. TOH’s Information and Privacy Office investigated the matter and reported it to the Information and Privacy Commissioner."
The hospital did not confirm how many staff members were affected, but a source told CTV News Ottawa there were 391 names on the list.
In the email to staff acknowledging the breach, the hospital said they contacted IT services to remove the original email from all inboxes, notified the hospital's privacy office, asked anyone who forwarded the email to personal accounts to delete it, conducted an investigation into how this breach happened, and contacted people who were affected.
In its statement to CTV News, the Ottawa Hospital said it expects staff to be vaccinated.
"The Ottawa Hospital expects every member of our organization to receive the vaccine, as it is an important step to ensuring the safety of everyone in our community. Educating our unvaccinated staff is an important step in that journey," the statement said.
Ottawa Hospital staff were required to receive their first dose by Sept. 7. They must have their second dose by Oct. 15.
"Health-care workers have worked tirelessly to protect our communities throughout the pandemic, and they deserve protection and support to enable them to do their jobs safely, and to the best of their abilities," TOH said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
Pilot proposes to flight attendant girlfriend in front of passengers
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.
Suspects waving weapons, smashing glass in Toronto jewelry store robbery caught on video
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.