A Message from AHP Canada Regional
Director Pearl Veenema, CFRE
December 2002

The Honourable Roy Romanow Q, C. was the luncheon keynote speaker at the Banff Conference and the Commissioner also met with the AHP Cabinet to hear our perspectives on the role of philanthropy in healthcare. That meeting resulted in an invitation to participate in a Toronto public hearing in May, where we had the opportunity to elaborate on the role of philanthropy and the intrinsic value of volunteerism. As part of the CBC media coverage leading to the release of the final report on November 28, I was able to represent AHP members to talk about the value of philanthropy and the partnerships with our health service delivery institutions and organizations. Presently, your Cabinet is reviewing the report to determine next steps.

Eric Dean, FAHP has written about the collaborative efforts to respond appropriately to the draft Ontario Privacy Legislation . Our commitment is to focus on the involvement of development professionals to inform legislation and ultimately, regulations drafting to share the challenges and experiences of colleagues from other provinces who are functioning within a more restrictive framework. This is a delicate balance. All AHP members respect the individual's right for privacy of information while recognizing the need for information to foster a culture of philanthropy and relationship building with current and future donors.

An outstanding priority in this area relates to the development of a template for a province-by-province report primarily focused on What and Who is AHP Canada and The Value of and Role of Philanthropy in Health Care among other positioning.  

Changes Coming to Newfoundland's Privacy Act - Barry Oakes, AHP Canada Provincial Representative, Newfoundland and Labrador

Health Foundations in Newfoundland and Labrador will soon have to deal with new Privacy Legislation. The new Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act will come into affect within the next year. This province brought in its existing Freedom Of Information Act in 1981; however, no significant review of the legislation was done until a review committee was appointed in December of 2000. The committee submitted its report in July of 2001 with 52 recommendations. The committee felt that the old act was so outdated that it should be repealed and a new legislative regime enacted. This new law received Royal Assent in March 2002. There are a number of interesting recommendations, most of which, deal with a person's right of access to " all records in the custody or control of a public body." Under the new legislation, Health Foundations will no longer have access to the names and addresses of patients which most of us use for our patient solicitation or grateful patient programs. Under the new act we must first receive permission from the patient to send them correspondence. At our hospital we will be adding a line to the admission form asking for this permission. It is my understanding that these rules have been in affect for quite some time in other provinces, and some have adopted even more stringent laws, but it is new for Newfoundland and Labrador. So like most of you we'll just have to adapt to the change.

Update on New Brunswick Health Care — Margaret Bannister, AHP Canada Provincial Representative, New Brunswick

The New Brunswick AHP Roundtable members met with the New Brunswick Provincial Minister of Health and Wellness, Hon Elvy Robichaud on November 19th in Fredericton to discuss issues facing health care philanthropy in New Brunswick. Tim Cameron, Executive Director of The Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation compiled some interesting statistics for the Minister indicating the importance of Foundations in providing funding for Health care; $6.7 million in 2001 and $33.7 million over the past 5 years. David Wilson, Chairman of the Chalmers Regional Hospital Foundation discussed with the Minister the implications of including Foundation revenue in the budgeting process as indicated in the NB Regional Health Authority Act subsection 32(1)(h). Linda Saunders, Regional Director of Development for the South-East Health Care Corporation explained to the Minister the negative impact the privacy Legislation has had on the grateful patient program. The NB Roundtable is hoping to re-introduce the program in New Brunswick with the Minister's approval and use an "opt out" option. David Cadogan, Chairperson of the Miramichi Regional Hospital Foundation asked the Minister what the Department sees as the role of Foundations in the future. Do they see Hospital Foundations playing a role in New Hospital Construction? The New Brunswick Roundtable is considering a provincial Hospital Lottery. Tim Cameron presented the idea to the group in September and is hoping for participation of the eight regional hospitals in New Brunswick. He has proposed a "12 days of Christmas" theme with the planning to start in January 2003.

News from Ontario — Eric Dean, AHP Canada Provincial Representative, Ontario

Privacy continues to be one of our primary topics of conversation in Ontario. We had anticipated first reading of the new Privacy of Personal Information Act in early October but it has not yet made it to the legislature. We are maintaining regular contact with the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services in charge of the Act and our understanding is that the Act has been introduced to cabinet but that they want more time to review and study it before bringing it forward. Meanwhile, AHP has had an important role at the table of charity stakeholders, working with MCBS in two industry consultation sessions, reviewing draft language, educating the Ministry representatives on industry practices and the scope of our work and working together to determine how our practices can fit into the language and structure of the Act. As soon as the Act is introduced and read, we will provide further information and interpretation of the Act and, during the compliance period, we will work to develop sample language for optout notices, in-house signage, policies and procedures, etc. for use in your own planning. We do appreciate the opportunities which have been provided by MCBS for consultation and also appreciate the cooperative efforts of AFP, APRA, CCP and other stakeholder associations throughout this process. Stay tuned for more on privacy from AHP Ontario...

By Pearl F. Veneema, CFRE, AHP Canada Regional Director

On March 28, 2002, AHP Canada submitted a response to the Draft Ontario Privacy of Personal Act to the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services. The response commended the Ontario government for its legislative proposal and for ensuring that protections are in place for personal health information. It expressed AHP Canada's commitment to supporting the adoption of health privacy legislation and requested that we be included in consultations on the re-drafting. Our response focused on the many ways in which fund raising would be hindered if the legislation did not specifically address the unique role of the charitable sector and the unique needs that charities have in their information requirements. If adopted as currently written, the grateful patient programs—the heart of health care philanthropy— would be severely jeopardized.

General Recommendations

• Provisions affecting the privacy of personal health information for health care fund raising must be detailed in the legislation
• The first contact with a patient should be allowed to be a solicitation with an ability for the individual to opt-out
• The legislation needs to recognize that donating is a voluntary act which implies consent to future contact with the ability for the donor to opt-out at any time

Focus of Response

A significant component of the response focused on education through a series of philanthropic facts. These included the practice of developing relationships through donor-centered programs, that philanthropy is relationship and not transaction based, the need to continue receiving first hand information from volunteers and donors, the ability to develop a prospect base by using information widely available in the public domain, and assurances that fundraisers have access to limited personal information and finally, that we do respect that privilege and that we are guided by the AHP Statement of Professional Standards and the Donor Bill of Rights.

The comments provided on specific elements of the legislation demonstrate that consent, as a rule for obtaining personal information, would be impractical and that it would be cost prohibitive. This is critical to our response because we were specifically requested to provide concrete examples in order for the "drafters" to understand the context for fund raising. It is also necessary for us to state that the care cycle is not predictable in all aspects of service delivery and that in pediatric, chronic and long-term care facilities, a parent, guardian, a family member or care decision maker can be approached for fund-raising support.

Recommendations on Contents of a Legislative Framework

• There is a need for a prohibition on using or disclosing personal name and address information unless the person consents through a non-patient specific, opt-out consent
• There should be an obligation to provide notices in appropriate forms and languages about fund raising and the manner by which persons can refuse solicitations
• Where the person has not opted out, that subsequent solicitations should provide ability to do so and that there is documentation to ensure that the decision is respected and filed

This response was based on the feedback of colleagues across Ontario and was prepared in consultation with partners. The next steps by the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services have not been identified but AHP Canada intends to take a proactive role to ensure that it continues to be involved in further drafting of the legislation.

May 2002

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