The following statement was released Thursday by Stephen Grubbs, president/CEO of Covenant Health, and Steven Jorgensen, president of St. Mary’s Health System:
Covenant Health and St. Mary’s Health System does not tolerate or condone discrimination or harassment of any kind, for any reason. We also do not tolerate any violation of our patients’ privacy or medical records. We deeply regret that this situation occurred back in 2016, and we sincerely apologize for the impact this situation has had on Ms. McCann.
It is important to know that St. Mary’s Health System took immediate action to investigate and address Ms. McCann’s concerns, and took appropriate disciplinary action for others who were involved. We are fully committed to ensuring this doesn’t happen again.
It is also important to note that our investigation found that there were no other breaches in patient privacy. It is our policy that any employee who accesses a patient’s record without proper cause or authority is subject to immediate disciplinary action, including termination.
“St. Mary’s Health System’s legacy is rooted in providing a safe and healing environment to every member of the Lewiston-Auburn community,” Grubbs said. “This incident is troubling. I am confident however that it is not reflective of the greater St. Mary’s family, which is deeply caring and committed to serving every member of our community with empathy and compassion.”
“An incident such as this weighs heavily on the St. Mary’s family of employees,” Jorgensen said. “However, I have every confidence that our health system will continue to respond to all employee issues in a manner that promotes human value while honoring our core values of compassion and integrity. On behalf of the entire St. Mary’s family, we are making every effort to learn from this incident and to ensure this type of behavior never occurs again.”
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