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Twenty-seven employees at Palisades Medical Center have reportedly been suspended for a month without pay for allegedly accessing George Clooneys medical records after the actor/director was hospitalized with injuries from a motorcycle crash in September. The investigation reportedly is continuing, with more than 40 employees under the crosshairs.
Clooney and his companion Sarah Larson were injured when the motorcycle collided with a car in Weehawken, N.J. Clooney suffered a broken rib and skin abrasions and Larson broke her foot.
According to reports, medical staffers who werent even treating Clooney accessed his personal medical records via the hospital computer system, a direct violation of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations.
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Eurice Rojas, vice president of external affairs for Palisades Medical Center, in North Bergen, N.J., said in a statement that the hospitals physicians and employees “[adhere] to a strong code of ethics that respects the privacy and confidentiality of all of our patients. Our commitment is to always conduct our behavior in the highest possible standards and any conduct that violates the trust of our patients and the high standards we set is taken very seriously and treated in a very serious manner.”
Clooney released a statement to media in which he said that although privacy rights are important, his hope is that no medical workers will be suspended over the issue.
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