Medical Record

Access to Your Medical Records

At the Timmins and District Hospital (TADH), protecting your privacy is a fundamental commitment to treating patients with dignity, compassion and social responsibility. It is also the law.

The TADH Privacy Office has legal custody of all personal health information and medical records, and follows all regulatory processes to ensure we are protecting your personal health information. Since most patients in the Timmins District and surrounding areas may need both outpatient and inpatient care provided, information about a patient’s visit(s) are stored and form a single medical record.


Privacy and Access to Medical Records

Personal health information includes information such as your name, date of birth, address, health history and records of your visits to the hospital and the care that you received during those visits. Your medical record contains your personal health information.


Freedom of Information Requests

The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) provides individuals with the right to:

  • Access their (non-health) personal information held by the hospital.
  • Access general records about the management and operation of TADH.
  • Correct their personal information.

This type of request is not related to accessing your personal health records. If you wish to access your medical record (personal health information), please see the Access to Information – Privacy & Access to your Medical Record information page.


Medical Record Fees

The Timmins and District Hospital reserves the right to charge a medical record fee for the following services.

Personal Health Record

The law allows the hospital to charge a fee to recover costs. A minimum administrative fee of $33.90 shall apply to all requests. Additional fees may apply. When you submit the form you will be informed if additional fees apply.

Freedom of Information Request

In addition to the $5 application fee, other fees may apply to recover costs as permitted by law.

Medical Record Fees
Personal Health Record
$33.90 + additional fees
Freedom of Information
$5 + additional fees
Frequently Asked Questions

The information about you contained in your medical record belongs to you. You have a right to access the information in your medical chart under the law, with some limited exceptions. In order to do so, please contact the Release of Information Department at TADH where they handle all requests for access to information.

You will be required to fill out a Request for Access to Personal Health Record and send to our Release of Information Department prior to accessing your medical record. Your request will be processed in the shortest time possible, although TADH is committed to respond to your request within 30 days, in accordance with PHIPA.

Release of Information
Timmins and District Hospital
700 Ross Avenue East,
Timmins, ON P4N 8P2
Phone: 705-267-2131 ext. 6392
Fax:  705-267-6319

Please submit your request in writing using the Freedom of Information Request Form. Once completed, please send the Freedom of Information Access Request Form and mandatory application fee of $5 (cheque made payable to TADH to the Privacy & Freedom of Information Office) at the address below.

Privacy and Freedom of Information Office
Timmins and District Hospital
700 Ross Avenue East,
Timmins, ON P4N 8P2
Phone: 705-267-2131  ext. 6005
Fax:  705-267-6319
Email:privacy@tadh.com

If you would like some or all of your medical records to be sent outside the hospital to your insurance company, lawyer or another hospital, please complete the Request for Access to Personal Health Record Form.

Only those who need it to provide you with health care. Your health care team needs access in order to plan and deliver your health care. This may include sharing your health information with:

  • Other approved health information organizations or providers (e.g. Community Care Access Centre, family physicians, community mental health).
  • eHealth Ontario provincial electronic health record and other regional health information repositories.
  • Other allied health care professionals who will provide your follow-up care.

Yes. We may use or share your personal health information to:

  • Perform activities to improve and maintain the quality of the care that we deliver to you.
  • Conduct risk management activities.
  • Teach health care professionals (we use de-identified information where possible).
  • Plan, administer and manage our internal operations.
  • Obtain payment for delivery of your health care (e.g. from OHIP, WSIB or others).
  • Fund-raise to improve our health care services and programs (information limited to name and address).
  • To conduct research.
  • Comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

Yes.  At any time you may withdraw your consent to share your personal health information for research, fundraising or patient satisfaction surveys, etc. To do so, please ask us in writing using the Withdrawal of Consent Form.

Yes. If you believe that factual information in your medical record is incorrect, you have the right to ask to have it corrected by filling out the Request for Correction to Personal Health Record Form.

Your first step is to complete the Request to Lock Personal Health Records Form.  An interview or discussion will be arranged with the Privacy Officer or delegate and you once the form has been completed.

There are laws that require us to retain records for a specific period; generally, adult patient records are kept for 10 years following the last visit or death and children’s records are kept for 10 years past the child’s 18th birthday.

By law, TADH cannot provide access to some records as listed below:

  • Employment
  • Labour relations
  • The appointments or privileges of health professionals
  • Regulated health professionals’ private practice records
  • Research and teaching records
  • Hospital foundation and charitable donation records
  • Records relating to the provision of abortion services
  • Personal health information (subject to the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA)
  • Quality of care information (prepared by or for a designated quality of care committee under Quality of Care Information Protection Act (QCIPA)

If you have further questions about how to access information held by TADH, please contact the Privacy Officer.

If you have reason to believe your privacy has been breached or accessed by a person(s) unauthorized to do so without your consent, please contact the Privacy Officer at:

Privacy Officer
Timmins and District Hospital
700 Ross Avenue East,
Timmins, ON P4N 8P2
Phone: 705-267-2131 ext. 6005
Email:privacy@tadh.com  

Contact the Information Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

You have the right to contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario if we have been unable to resolve your concern.

Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario
2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400
Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8
Phone: 416-326-3333 or 1-800-387-0073
Fax: 416-325-9195
Website:ipc.on.ca

EN

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