​At Somerset West Community Health Centre (SWCHC), we take privacy and the security of personal information and personal health information in our care seriously. The purpose of this notice is to inform you that we experienced a cybersecurity incident that may have involved your personal information and/or personal health information.  

 

Please read this notice carefully.​ 

 

Translations in the following languages are coming soon: Arabic, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Dari, French, Khmer, Pashto, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese.  You can check this page for the latest updates. 

 

What Happened? 
 

On April 30, 2026, we discovered that an unauthorized third-party had accessed our Information Technology (IT) systems and encrypted (i.e., locked or otherwise blocked our access to) some of our servers where we store our files. As soon as we became aware of this, we immediately took action to contain the incident and secure our systems. We also brought in cybersecurity experts to help us investigate what happened, determine what was accessed, and whether any sensitive information was affected.  

 

Unfortunately, the investigation has confirmed that some personal information and personal health information was taken from our systems.  

 

What Information Was Involved? 

 

The impacted information varies by individual, and we do not know exactly what specific information may have been affected for each person. However, based on the investigation, we have identified the types of information that were accessed and/or taken by the unauthorized third-party: 

 

If you receive services from our Homelessness and Addiction, Recovery and Treatment (HART) Hub, Mental Health and Counselling, Ottawa Lung Health Program, Ottawa Newcomer Health Centre, or Primary Health Care, some or all of the following information about you may have been accessed and/or taken by the unauthorized third-party:  

• Name 

• Date of birth 

• Home address 

• Sex 

• Phone number 

• Driver’s License 

• Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) number 

• Ontario Disability Support Program ODSP applicant number 

• Client housing applications 

• Name of healthcare provider 

• List of medications 

• List of allergies 

• Medical, social and family history 

• Symptoms 

• Diagnosis 

• Treatment plan

• Disability assessment 

• Physical examination findings 

• Test and imaging results 

• Specialist referrals 

• Specialists consult notes  

According to our experts, there was no unauthorized access to our electronic medical records system, which contains the majority of our client personal health information. 

 

At this time, there is no evidence that your personal information has been used for identity theft or fraud.

​

What Has Been Done? 

 

We have worked closely with our IT service provider over the years to protect our IT systems. However, cyber threats are always evolving, and these kinds of incidents are not always preventable. Since discovering this incident, we have worked with cybersecurity experts to improve our security and help prevent something like this from happening again. We have confidence in the measures we have taken to counter this incident and believe our systems are now safe. We are actively monitoring our systems to help protect against future threats. Keeping your information safe is very important to us. 

 

We have reported this matter to two privacy commissioners: the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC). The IPC oversees the protection of health information under the Personal Health Information Protection Act (i.e., for those who receive health services from us). You do not need to do anything, but if you wish, you have the right to file a complaint with the IPC at https://www.ipc.on.ca/en/resources/forms/file-health-information-privacy-complaint. The OPC oversees the protection of other personal information under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (i.e., for those who receive services from our community programs). Again, you do not need to do anything, but if you wish, you have the right to file a complaint with the OPC at https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/report-a-concern/. We have also reported this matter to law enforcement.  

 

What Can You Do? 

 

We encourage you to be careful and watch out for common threats to your identity and personal information. Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself: 

 

• Be careful when sharing your personal or health information, especially when the request is unexpected. If someone contacts you and asks you for your personal information out of the blue, do not share it. 

• Do not click on links or download attachments in suspicious emails.  

• If you receive a message that looks like it is from us asking for money or other personal information, and you were not expecting it, it may be a scam. Contact us directly to confirm before responding to the message.  

• If you think that someone may be using your OHIP number without your permission, you can contact Ontario’s Ministry of Health at 1-888-781-5556 Monday to Friday (excluding holidays), 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or at reportohipfraud.moh@ontario.ca. They will look into it and may share your information with law enforcement if fraud is suspected. 

 

For More Information 

 

If you have questions about this notice, please review our Frequently Asked Questions. You can also contact our Privacy Officer at privacyofficer@swchc.on.ca.  

 

We sincerely regret that this incident has occurred and assure you we are taking it very seriously. 

 

Thank you for your patience and understanding.