After a break-in earlier this year, the owners of Leading Edge Physiotherapy are notifying patients that their information may have fallen into the wrong hands.
An advertisement on page 42 of the Sept. 7 edition of the Gazette informed patients that on Feb. 3, Leading Edge Physiotherapy in the Campbell Business Park was robbed.
In addition to cash and other items stolen, an unencrypted external hard drive containing scanned files of discharged patient records from 2003 and 2008 went missing from a locked safe.
Registration information such as name, address, date of birth, as well as physiotherapy records including diagnostic and treatment information, could have been on the back-up hard drive that was scheduled for destruction.
“The vast majority of files were for patients that pre-dated our ownership of Leading Edge. To our knowledge there is minimal risk to the patients’ financial well-being,” said Grant Fedoruk, co-owner of Leading Edge Physiotherapy that has clinics in St. Albert and Edmonton.
“Our policy and procedures were followed – very closely – and despite that criminals got into our new home and into a locked safe.”
Fedoruk and his team took over the business in 2008.
In January, the clinic moved from the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club to the Sports Performance Centre III in Campbell Business Park.
He explained company credit cards and cheques also in the safe were left untouched; thieves were more interested in taking cash and electronics. RCMP reassured owners that robberies in the business parks have been a problem and the information isn’t likely the target.
“First and foremost, the health and the betterment of our patients in the community are our top priority,” said Fedoruk, adding the company has taken further steps with file encryption and storage to ensure the incident won’t happen again.
Owners have also been working with RCMP, Alberta Health Services and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner since the break-in.
Former and current patients with any questions about a possible connection between their information and the incident can email: [email protected].
