VA denies patient records were compromised in California

VA says its patient records weren't compromised
Bakersfield Californian
By LOIS HENRY Californian staff writer
Oct 17 2013

Responding to allegations that a doctor had taken confidential patient records out of the Bakersfield Veterans Administration clinic, the VA announced Thursday that three separate investigations over the course of seven months showed that no such patient information had been "released into the community or abused in any way."

"We are confident that these results confirm that veterans in Bakersfield and Kern County did not have their personal information compromised," said David Holt, the VA Los Angeles associate director who was in Bakersfield Thursday to talk to the media and meet with veterans at the clinic just west of downtown Bakersfield.

He praised clinic staff for being vigilant and reporting their suspicions, but repeated several times that veterans had no cause for concern about their personal information.

Some of the original tipsters weren't convinced.

Two of the staffers who made the reports maintained that patient records were breached and they were unsurprised by what they felt was a continuing VA whitewash.

"The VA doesn't want anyone to know, the general public to know, that a VA employee could do this terrible HIPAA violation and they'll deny it forever because it makes them look bad," said JoAnn Van Horn, the former clinic site manager who has since retired.

HIPAA is a reference to federal laws that prohibit the release of private medial information.

Van Horn said she notified the Los Angeles VA office several times that medical records could be at risk based on reports from a security guard and others who said they saw a doctor taking boxes and even garbage bags filled with documents out of the clinic after hours.

"It was common knowledge among the people who worked late," she said.
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