In late July, as George Floyd's death still permeated the news cycle, five Hennepin Healthcare employees received hand-delivered letters notifying them they were being fired for looking at a patient's medical file without authorization, a violation of the hospital's confidentiality policy.
The letters, obtained by the Star Tribune through a public records request, do not specifically identify the patient as Floyd. But some of them refer to a "high profile patient" and a case in the news. And shortly after they were delivered, the hospital sent a letter to Floyd's family saying his private data had been breached by several employees who no longer worked there.
The letters give little clarity as to what drove the employees, from departments all over the hospital system, to violate Hennepin Healthcare's confidentiality policy and fundamental ethics to look at the records.
Earlier this month, Floyd's attorneys called the security breach a revictimization of the family.
"When George Floyd was desperate for a breath, the city of Minneapolis pushed on his neck further," reads the statement from the Chicago-based law firm Romanucci & Blandin. "And even after death, he was abused and mistreated by the system. Shameful."
One of the employees, an office specialist in the Emergency Medical Services department, said they were "concerned about the safety of the paramedics that had worked on this patient," according to one of the disciplinary letters, dated July 28.
Another employee, from the hospital's surgery clinic, acknowledged searching for the patient's name but denied reading anything, according to the letter. "When asked why you searched the [sic] for the patients [sic] file you said you didn't know why."
A lab technician specialist said they accessed the patient's records at the request of the medical examiner, who wanted blood samples. But they acknowledged they "did accidentally slip up" days later. "You stated that co-workers were talking about the medical information that was being reported on the news, and you clarified for them what was stated/written in the medical record," according to the disciplinary letter.
