About Us Privacy Statement
| Privacy Statement |
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Your Personal Health Information Haldimand-Norfolk REACH supports families, adults and young people with many types of programs and services. We provide counselling programs to people of all ages and to families. We also help youth who are in trouble with the law, and youth over sixteen years old who have no safe place to live. We help adults with special needs and families who have children with special needs. REACH also provides programs that support families with young children. We will ask you and your family to talk to us about you and what has been happening. We will ask you how you think we can help, so that we can plan together for the supports you need. The things you tell us about you, your body, and your feelings are called personal health information. We may get personal health information about you (or your child or someone who is taking care of you) from you or from someone else (such as your doctor or someone else who is helping you). The law says that we have to keep your personal health information PRIVATE. This means that we will not tell anyone what you tell us, except where we have to, or think that you would want us to. For example, there are times when we may have to tell other people that someone could be hurt or that a child has been hurt or is not being cared for. UNLESS YOU TELL US NOT TO we can talk with someone else who is helping you (such as a doctor or counsellor) so that we can all plan together for the supports that you need. How we use your personal health information: · To help you at our agency, at school or somewhere else that you have told us is important to you; We will do our best to make sure that any personal health information that we collect is not stolen, lost or used without you saying that we can use it. Everyone who works with us will also do their best to protect your personal health information. We will let you know if your personal health information is lost or stolen. If you want to know more about how we protect your personal health information ask us for a copy of our Privacy Policy. You can ask to see any personal health information we have about you. If you think your personal health information is wrong or that information is missing, you can ask us to fix any mistakes or add any information. Sometimes we will not be able to show you the personal health information we have or to change what you ask us to. If we can not fix or show you your personal health information, we will talk with you about why. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the privacy and/or information practices at our agency, or if you are unhappy about something that has been done with your personal health information, please contact Privacy Officer, Donna Smye-Shipway, at 519-587-2441. If you are not able to resolve a privacy issue directly with our agency and wish to get in touch with someone else about this, you may contact: Haldimand-Norfolk REACH supports families, adults and young people with many types of programs and services. We provide counselling programs to people of all ages and to families. We also help youth who are in trouble with the law, and youth over sixteen years old who have no safe place to live. We help adults with special needs and families who have children with special needs. REACH also provides programs that support families with young children. We are committed to respecting, safeguarding and protecting your personal health information and complying with the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, which requires that personal health information be kept private and secure. We collect personal health information about you or your child (such as your health history and records of your health care) so that we can provide the best service possible. This information is necessary for us to provide services, but it will only be used for the purposes outlined below. We may collect information about you or your child directly from you, or from someone acting on your behalf, or from someone else (i.e., from other health care providers or from your or your child's school), if necessary to provide you with care and services, and when you have given us permission to do so or where the law permits. We will not collect personal health information if other information will serve the purpose, and we will not collect more personal health information than what is reasonably necessary to meet our purposes. We will only collect, use and disclose your personal health information with your consent, except where otherwise permitted or required by law. You can withdraw or withhold consent at any time. UNLESS YOU TELL US NOT TO: we may share your information with other agencies or health care providers involved in your care, who need to know this information to provide you with care or help provide you with care. You can also ask us not to give out your personal health information to other health care providers. We will not give out this information unless the law requires or allows us to do so. We may be required to give out personal health information when we receive information, for example, when we learn about a child who may be in need of protection, when the Ministry of Community and Social Services is investigating or auditing our records, and when disclosure is necessary to reduce or eliminate a risk of bodily harm to someone. We will use and disclose personal health information in order to: · Provide care for you in the community, at our agency, or at your school. We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal health information we collect and keep is protected against theft, loss and unauthorized use or disclosure. Everyone who performs services for us will protect your privacy and use your personal health information only for the purposes you have consented to. In the unfortunate event that personal health information is stolen, lost, or accessed by someone outside of our agency, we will inform you at the first reasonable opportunity. Please ask us for a copy of our Privacy Policy, which explains the steps we take to protect your personal health information. You have the right to see your personal health information and to get a copy of it, by asking us. You also have the right to ask for a correction if you believe your information is inaccurate or incomplete, and you can do so by contacting your assigned worker or our Privacy Officer. Please note that there are circumstances where you may not be able to access your information, and reasons will be given if these circumstances exist. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the privacy and/or information practices at our agency, or if you are unhappy about something that has been done with your personal health information, please contact Privacy Officer, Donna Smye-Shipway, at 519-587-2441. If you are not able to resolve a privacy issue directly with our agency and wish to get in touch with someone else about this, you may contact: |