NEW YORK-
The city’s public hospital system said it will suspend 39 employees without pay for peeking at the private medical records of a 7-year-old girl whose death from beatings and torture prompted an overhaul of New York’s child welfare system.
The case of Nixzmary Brown became a tabloid and TV news sensation after she was found dead Jan. 11 in her Brooklyn home, and dozens of workers at the Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn apparently couldn’t resist looking at the child’s computerized medical file.
Nixzmary had been treated at Woodhull before her death, but many of the people who later examined her records had not been involved in her care, city officials said.
“New Yorkers who depend on our public hospital system for their care have a right to the full protection of their medical privacy,” Health and Hospitals Corp. President Alan D. Aviles said in a written statement.
Suspensions will range from 30 to 60 days, Aviles said. Those facing suspension include nurses, doctors, technicians and some clerical staff. A few of the suspensions went into effect immediately, but a majority were delayed because the employees were union members and are allowed an opportunity to appeal.
Each of the sanctioned employees will be required to undergo training in patient privacy rules before they return to work, the Health and Hospitals Corp. said.
Patient records are protected by federal and state privacy laws and medical providers are generally barred from accessing them unless they are involved in the individual’s care.
Brown’s stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, and mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, have been charged in her death.
Several employees at the city’s child welfare agency were suspended after Brown’s death for failing to respond aggressively to reports of problems at the family’s home.
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