Officials pressed Lee for virus data
Gov. Bill Lee’s decision to share with first responders the personal information of individuals testing positive for coronavirus came after his office heard from prosecutors around the state urging him to do so — and after the Tennessee Department of Health had initially denied requests to release the data.
Among the emails Lee’s office received on the topic were messages from three district attorneys around the state who asked Brandon Gibson, senior adviser to the governor and a former Tennessee Court of Appeals judge, for help bringing the issue to Lee’s attention.
The Tennessee Department of Health, according to the three prosecutors who wrote Gibson in April 2 emails obtained by The Tennessean, had previously denied their local police, fire and EMS officials’ requests to obtain patient information for those with coronavirus.
By 4 p.m. the next day, Gibson had sent out an email to county and city mayors informing them that the Department of Health and state Emergency Communications Board had just entered an agreement to share the information through a system the state said would comply with the federal health privacy law known as HIPAA.
“I have been contacted by sheriffs, police chiefs and the EMS director of my largest county, Bradley,” wrote District Attorney General Stephen Crump, of the 10th judicial district in East Tennessee, the day before the Lee administration made the policy change. “They all have expressed significant concern that they cannot be provided with the list of COVID-19 positive persons in their communities.”
Crump said local first-responder leaders had sent him a copy of a response from the state indicating the Department of Health was refusing the request “as a ‘policy decision’ without any cite to law or regulation that supported that decision.”
The Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday evening.
“Law enforcement officers and EMS first responders in the 13th Judicial District are very concerned that the Department of Health is refusing to disclose to first responders, a list of persons who are positive for COVID-19,” wrote Bryant Dunaway, another district attorney whose district includes Cookeville.
“This decision by the Department of Health is, in my opinion, contrary to law, and presents a health risk to first responders who must work to protect our communities.”
Ray Crouch, the district attorney in the 23rd judicial district, asked Gibson to urge the governor and Department of Health to provide the information to first responders.
The district attorneys argued law enforcement needed the information to protect themselves. Crump, whose district includes Cheatham and Dickson counties, called COVID-19 “an invisible enemy” and said “first responders cannot know if they have come into contact with an infected person.”
Public health officials at all levels have warned that the scope of coronavirus infections extends far beyond any given state’s positive test results.
Further complaints from law enforcement prompted additional policy change
Additional emails show that after the agreement was reached with 911 districts, dispatchers in at least Robertson County still had difficulty accessing some of the patient data.
In an April 8 note, Robertson County Sheriff Mike Van Dyke wrote that because the county 911 center dispatched for agencies that also have jurisdiction in Sumner County, such as White House police and Robertson County EMS, they were unable to receive data on Sumner County patients.
“I have been told this is a decision from the TN Department of Health,” Van Dyke wrote in an email forwarded to Gibson from Montgomery County Sheriff John Fuson, president of the Tennessee Sheriff’s Association.
Van Dyke asked that the issue be resolved. Gibson alerted Fuson that the governor’s team was working to do so.
The next day, the Department of
Health sent out a letter to all county sheriffs informing them that they, too, could enter memoranda of understanding to receive coronavirus patient information, encouraging them to consult with county attorneys to ensure the agreement was executed “in accordance with applicable law.”
On April 20, police chiefs received the same offer from the Department of Health. In both letters, the department wrote that Lee was encouraging them to enter into the agreement.
Lee has said sharing the information is needed to help protect law enforcement officers.
Tennessee one of 20 states sharing data with police
Tennessee isn’t the only state where public health officials have grappled with what information to share with law enforcement and other first responders.
It’s one of at least 20 states that are now sharing protected health data with first responders through through an exception in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the federal privacy law.
Among them is Virginia, where the state only provides the address and initials of the infected patients, according to a Virginia state health department document obtained by The Tennessean.
In California, state law enforcement officials wrote a memo to all county health departments arguing they are allowed the information per federal guidelines and explained guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In their view, that meant no general “lists” of the infected.
“Clearly, these exemptions do not give carte blanche to share all (public health information) with law enforcement, or create lists of individuals infected with COVID-19, but they do provide the ability for health care providers, clinics, hospitals, and local health officials to provide basic information on a per call basis to law enforcement about any potential exposure related to COVID-19,” wrote the leadership of California police chief and highway patrol organizations, according to another document obtained by The Tennessean.