ACH worker fined $5K for illegal access

A former Alberta Children’s Hospital worker has been fined $5,000 for illegally accessing the health information of 26 people.

Judy Anderson pleaded guilty to contravening the Health Information Act in 2014, when she accessed patient records on two different databases between November 2013 and March 2014.

A routine audit in 2014 found she accessed files of adults who shared her last name, as well as adults who had no connection with the program she worked in.

Anderson, who was 64 when she was charged last November, was responsible for entering and confirming data relating to newborns with congenital abnormalities.

After auditors discovered the breach, the findings were reported to Alberta’s privacy commissioner.

The fine handed out by a Calgary provincial court judge last week was a fraction of the maximum penalty, which could have been as high as $50,000 for each offence.