CBC Yellowknife newsroom gets 6th medical fax in 2 years

The CBC Yellowknife newsroom has received yet another confidential medical fax from a health centre in the North.

This is the sixth such fax the newsroom has received in two years. The most recent fax was sent from the health centre in Kugluktuk, Nunavut. It was a patient referral to a specialist in the Northwest Territories. The fax included information about the patient and their sexual health history.

Last week, CBC North contacted the Nunavut Health and Social Services Department to report the misdirected fax.

In a statement, the department said it's investigating. It added that health centres are required to use pre-set speed dials for confidential patient referrals.

The department also said it has contacted Northwestel to try and determine how the fax ended up in the newsroom.

A department spokesperson didn't know if the matter had been reported to the Privacy Commissioner. CBC has since destroyed the document.

N.W.T. health yet to follow-up about record faxed in July

Meanwhile, the Northwest Territories’ Department of Health and Social Services has not yet responded to a CBC request for a follow-up interview about the last time a health centre in the N.W.T. sent health records to the CBC.

At the beginning of July, confidential patient information was faxed to the newsroom from the health centre in Fort Providence, N.W.T.

At the time, Health Minister Tom Beaulieu said a summer student sent that fax. The department has not yet said if any action was taken, or why the faxes continue to come to CBC North in Yellowknife.