It’s official, Bonfield’s council has appointed the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as members of the newly created Bonfield Medical Center Board. However, before Mayor Narry Paquette and Jason Corbett take their seats, Corbett wanted to assure residents that these new positions do not make any member of council or staff privy to confidential or medical records.
Deputy Mayor Corbett felt the need to clarify that after recent social media posts suggested council and municipal staff would have access to residents’ records once appointed to the board.
See: Bonfield welcomes new doctor to town
“That’s a matter of integrity for me,” Corbett said of the suggestion, “that is not the case, and that will never be the case.” Accessing such records or any personal information of patients “is the role of our physicians and health professionals, which we are not.”
The suggestion “crossed the line for me, when somebody calls into question the integrity of our CAO and the rest of council, including the mayor, that we would somehow want access to people’s personal health information.”
“That is not, or will ever be the case,” he reiterated. “This is an administration board, that helps to make sure the centre is operating and functioning properly.”
The appointments to the board also “ensure information is shared with all of council,” CAO Nicky Kunkel noted in a memo to council, adding there is still space for one more on the board. That seat is reserved for a community member, and the deadline to submit an application is September 16th.
The first board meeting will be scheduled for soon after that final appointment is made.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
