16 Lapu-Lapu Day victims had medical privacy breached: report
16 Lapu-Lapu Day victims had medical privacy breached: report
Publish Date: 2026-02-19 12:11:00
Source Domain: vancouver.citynews.ca
Half of the victims taken to hospital for medical care after Vancouver’s tragic Lapu-Lapu Day attack had their privacy breached, a new report finds.
On Wednesday, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC) published the results of an investigation that began after receiving reports of ‘snooping’ from Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), the Fraser Health Authority (FHA), Providence Health Care (PHC) and the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA).
On April 26, 2025, a driver rammed an SUV through the crowds at a Filipino street festival, killing 11 people and injuring dozens more.
The OIPC says VCH reported the first incident of unauthorized access to patient information by employees on April 30.
Between then and June 20, the office says it received reports of 71 more snooping incidents into the medical records of 16 people — half of the total who received care related to the attack.
“These breaches were committed by 35 employees of the health authorities and PHC, and in one other case, by an assistant at a physician’s office who had access to an FHA electronic medical records system. In most cases, these employees invaded individuals’ privacy to satisfy their own curiosity,” said the OIPC.
It added, “In some cases, employees accessed patient records multiple times. For example, in one instance, an employee accessed the personal information of nine patients in a single day; in another case, an employee repeatedly accessed one patient’s file. Moreover, two employees went on to disclose patient information to colleagues.”
The report says privacy violations can lead to further stress on patients, deteriorate the reputation of the health-care system, and compromise care.
“In the digital age, with personal health information stored in information systems and accessed in seconds by way of a login, it is of paramount importance that public bodies have measures in…
