Northern Health (NH) collects, uses, and discloses personal information under the authority of the BC the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), and other legislative authorities including (but not limited to) the Health Authorities Act, Health Act, Public Health Act, Vital Statistics Act, and relevant regulations.
NH is committed to protecting your privacy. We will take all reasonable steps to make sure that your personal information is treated confidentially, is stored securely, and is only used or disclosed for the purposes described at time of collection, or where authorized by law.
Programs and services provided by NH may also collect, use, and disclose information consistent with the purpose of the program and service.
An online version of the privacy notice displayed in all NH facilities, is available on the Information Privacy Office page and provides insight about the collection, use and disclosure of personal information related to healthcare.
If you have any questions about how your personal information is being managed, you may contact the NH Information Privacy Office by email to privacy@northernhealth.ca.
We welcome participation in discussions, but we believe people should feel respected and safe on our channels, as well as be protected from misinformation, harmful advice, advice that is not evidence-based, or spam. We also expect conversations to follow the conventions of polite discourse so that everyone feels welcome to participate.
To support these objectives, NH social media moderators will use moderation options provided by the platforms to moderate content that interferes with these objectives, such as (without limitation):
- Content that contains profanity or is discriminatory, hateful, defamatory, racist, sexist, or obscene.
- Content that breaches employee or patient privacy.
- Content that contains personal attacks beyond the expectations of civil discourse.
- Content that unreasonably invades anyone’s privacy.
- Content that describes personal health information or situations.
- Content that impersonates anyone.
- Content that spreads misinformation, disproven medical claims, or harmful advice.
- Content that constitutes spam or promotes services or products not approved by NH.
- Off-topic content that has no relevance to the topic at hand or interferes with the conversation.
- Content that encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offence or give rise to civil liability, or that otherwise violates any applicable laws, regulations, or treaties.
- Content that is contrary to the principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- Content that is deemed to be spam or any form of advertisement.
NH moderation options include, but are not limited to, hiding, or deleting posts and turning off comments. Where other options have failed, moderation may involve blocking or banning users’ profiles.
If you have questions about this moderation policy or how we apply it, please contact: HealthPromotions@NorthernHealth.ca.
Monitoring hours
NH social media channels are generally monitored during regular business hours, Monday – Friday, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm PST, with partial coverage on weekends and holidays. We will do our best to respond to posts within a timely manner.
Media
Media inquiries are not responded to on NH social media channels. For media inquiries about NH or its programs and services, call the media line at 250-961-7724, or email Media@NorthernHealth.ca.
Medical advice
Medical advice will not be provided through social media.
Care complaints
If you have a complaint about a NH employee or program, please contact the Patient Care Quality Office via email: Patientcarequalityoffice@northernhealth.ca.
Complaints about NH staff and programs posted to social media will be reported or removed if they violate any of the conditions listed in the NH Social Media Moderation Policy and commenters may be banned from NH social media channels.
Retweets (RTs), quotes, shares, likes
Retweets, shared posts, liked posts and quoted posts do not imply endorsement on the part of NH. We may like, share, or quote news, links, and personal observations we believe are relevant to the work we do. A like, share or quote should not be taken as explicit endorsement of any position or argument that may vary from NH’s official position.
Following
Our decision to follow a particular social media user does not imply endorsement of any kind.
How we protect and use the personal information
NH’s collection, use, disclosure, and retention of information complies with the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Collected information is used only by authorized NH staff to fulfil the purpose for which it was originally collected.
We will not sell or trade any personally identifiable information that may be collected from our websites and will not disclose such information to third parties except as authorized by law.
When you send us email via our website, your message is stored as business correspondence accessible only to authorized NH website staff.
Privacy
To protect your privacy, and the privacy of others, please do not include any personal information including telephone numbers, email addresses, or personal health information in comments. In addition, please do not share personal information about others, including pictures or videos, unless you have obtained consent to do so.
All content posted will be received with the assumption that the person who posted it holds all necessary rights to that content.
Terms of service
In accordance with the terms of service and data/privacy policies of social media platforms, this document serves as notice that by posting comments to any NH social media account you are consenting to the collection of the information you provide. Furthermore, by using or accessing a social media platform, you agree with the contents of their terms of service and data/privacy policy as updated from time to time. Please be aware that any information collected may be stored and/or accessed outside of Canada on servers that do not belong to NH.
In respect of personal information posted to any NH social media account, subsection 26(c) of the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act authorizes the collection of this information by a program of the Northern Health Authority for the purposes of engaging and consulting with the public.
NH is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or reliability of content posted by others on social media channels. If a third party uses this content, they will agree to indemnify and hold NH harmless from all third-party claims, demands, actions or costs arising out of use of these sites.
NH social media channels are managed by NH employees who post news, announcements and other items of interest for the public. Please note: If you comment on a post, share it, like it or otherwise engage with it, your personal identifiable information will be visible to other visitors. The amount of visible personal information displayed will depend on the platform and your privacy settings.
You can review your personal settings as well as the terms of service for each platform here:
Contact us
Northern Health welcomes your comments and questions regarding our privacy statement.
- If you have questions, please see Information Privacy Office.
- For any other website inquiries unrelated to our privacy statement, please use our contact form.