• Follow the rules given in this Notice;

• Let you know when we can’t agree with a request or demand you may make to restrict the sharing of your health information with others.

• Help you when you want your health information sent in a different way than it usually is sent or to a different place than it usually is sent.

We will not give out your health information without your permission except in certain cases explained in this Notice. There are laws that say we can give out your health information to others without your permission. The Hospital will follow these laws. The Hospital can give out your health information electronically (over computer networks, for example) or by facsimile.

WHAT ARE YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION RIGHTS? Your health information is the physical property of the doctor or hospital that wrote it. The information contained in that health information belongs to you. You have certain rights concerning this health information. The following is a list explaining your rights:

• Inspect and Copy Your Records. This information will usually include medical and billing records. Your information will not have psychotherapy notes and information that is made to be used in a court proceeding or information covered by special laws. If you want to see your health information and get a copy of your health information, you must write a request to the Contact Office. If you are disabled or ill, you can make this request over the phone or in person. You may be charged for copies and mailing. We may refuse your request for your health information. If we refuse you, you will be told in writing. In some cases, you can have the decision to not allow you to see your health information reviewed. A neutral person will review your request and we will do what they say.

HOW WILL WE USE AND GIVE OUT YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION? The Hospital can use and disclose your health information without your permission. The following is a list of when we can do this:

• ·For Payment. We may use and give out your health information about the treatment you receive here in the Hospital so that you or the insurance company or even a third party can be billed. For example, we may give your health insurance company information about your surgery so that your insurance plan will pay us or pay you for the surgery. Sometimes we may have to tell your insurance company before your surgery to get an "ok" from them so that they will cover the surgery.

• For Health Care Operations. We may use or give out your health information to make sure we are giving you the best care possible. For example, we may use your health information to see how well our staff takes care of you. We may combine your health care information with other individual’s information to decide about additional services we should offer to our patients and to see if new treatments really work. We may also give your health care information out to doctors, nurses technicians, medical students, and other hospital workers for their review and for their studies. We may also combine information we have with other hospitals to compare and see how we are doing and how we can provide better treatment. We may remove information from your health information so others who look at your health information cannot see your name. This way, we can study information without knowing the individual names. Here are some other reasons we may use and disclose your health care information: to see how well we are doing in helping our patients; to help reduce health care costs; to develop questionnaires and surveys; to help with care management; to make sure we are doing our job well and successfully; to better train people so they can get the skills they need to best perform their special skills; to help insurance companies better serve you in their policy making; to help those that check up on hospitals and ensure that we are doing our job correctly; to help us plan and develop the business part of health care including fund-raising and advertising so that we are profitable. For example, if you have surgery we may use your surgery information to see how long you were in the operating room so we can see how to schedule operations better.

• Appointment Reminders. We may give out your health information to contact you, a relative, or a friend to remind you that you have an appointment at our Hospital. We may leave a message on your answering machine or voice mail system unless you tell us not to.

• Treatment Alternatives. We may use or give out your health information to let you know about treatments that may be offered to you so you can make good choices about your health care.

• Health Related Benefits and Services. We may use and give out health information to tell you about health benefits or services that may be of interest to you.

• Fund-raising Activities. We may use your health information to contact you to help our Hospital raise money. We may also give out your health information to a foundation so they can help the Hospital raise money. For fund-raising activities, we will only give out basic contact information such as name, address, phone number, and the dates you were treated at the Hospital. If you do not want the Hospital to contact you for its fund-raising purposes, you must notify the Contact Office in writing.

• Hospital Directory. We may give out limited information about you that will be available to the public. While you are here at the Hospital as a patient, the information we give out may be your name, room number in the Hospital, and your general condition (for example, "fair," "stable," etc. and your religion. All the above information except your religion can be given out to the public who asks for you by name. Your religion may be given to a minister, priest, or rabbi even if they don’t ask for you by name. This is so your relatives, friends, and religious persons can visit you in the Hospital. If you do not want this information given out, you must write the Hospital or by stating on the admission form.

• Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. We may give out health information about you to one of your friends or family members who is in some way involved in your medical care. We may give out your health information to another person who is helping pay for your care. We may tell your family or friends about your condition and that you are in the Hospital. Also, we may give out your health information as part of a disaster relief effort so your family knows about your condition and location. How much of your health information we give out to another person will depend on how much they are involved in your care.

• Research. Sometimes for special reasons, we may give out your health information to researchers who want to do scientific research about how well certain drugs or treatments work. If a researcher wants to do a study involving you and your information, we will follow steps to make sure good research is approved that will benefit all people. The research must be worthwhile. We may give out health information to researchers to help them find the patients they need for their research study. This information we give them will usually not leave the Hospital. If a researcher wants your name, address, and other information about you, we will almost always ask permission from you before they contact you.

• As Required by Law. Federal, state, and local laws may require us to give out certain kinds of health information. Things like wounds from weapons, abuse, communicable diseases, and neglect are examples of such information and we do not need your permission to give out this information.

• To Avoid a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use or give out your health information if your health and safety is at risk or in danger. We also will give out your health information if the health of the public or another individual is at risk. If we give this information out, it will be given to someone who may be able to prevent the threat.

• Organ and Tissue Donation. If you are an organ donor, we may give out your health information to people who deal with organ collection, eye or tissue transplants, or to a donation bank. We give your information to these people to make sure organ or tissue donation or transplants can be made.

• Military and Veterans. If you are a member of the armed forces, we may give out your health information as required by those military authorities in command. If you are a member of the military of another country than the U.S., we may release your health information to the authority in command in your country.

• Worker’s Compensation. If you are involved in an injury that happens while you are at work, we may have to give out your health information so your medical bills can be paid by your employer. This is called worker’s compensation.

• Public Health Risks. We may give out your health information without your permission if there is a danger to the public’s health. Some general examples of these dangers: to avoid disease, injury or disability; to report births and deaths; to report child abuse and neglect; to report reactions to drugs and other health products; to report a recall of health products or medications; to tell a person they have been exposed to a disease or may get a disease or spread the disease; to tell a government authority if we believe a patient has been abused, neglected, or the victim of violence; to let employers know about a workplace illness; to report trauma injury to the state.

• Health Oversight Activities. We may give out your health information without your permission to a special group who checks up on hospitals to make sure they’re following the rules. These special groups investigate, inspect, and license hospitals. This is necessary for our government to know about our hospitals and that they are following the rules and the laws.

• Lawsuits and Disputes. We may give out your health information if you are involved in a lawsuit or dispute. If a court orders that we give out your health information even if you are not involved in a lawsuit or dispute, we may also give out your health information. Other reasons that may cause us to release your health information would be if there is an order to appear in court, a discovery request, or other legal reason by someone else involved in a dispute. There must be an effort made to tell you about this request or an order to make sure that the information they want is protected.

• Law Enforcement. We may give out your health information if asked for by a police official for the following reasons: for a court order, subpoena, warrant, or summons; to find a suspect, fugitive, witness, or missing person; to find out about the victim of a crime if we cannot get the person’s ok; about a death we believe may be the result of a crime; about some crime that happens at the Hospital; in emergencies to report a crime, the place where the crime happened, the victim of the crime, or the identity, description or whereabouts of the person who committed the crime.

• Coroners, Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors. We may give out your health information to a coroner or medical examiner to identify a person who has died or determine the cause of death. We may also give out health information to funeral directors so they can carry out their duties.

• National Security and Intelligence Activities. We may give out your health information to federal authorities for intelligence, counter-intelligence, and other situations involving our national safety.

• Protective Services for the President and Others. We may give out health information about you to federal officials so they can protect the President or other officials or foreign heads of state or so they may conduct special investigations.

• Inmates. If you are an inmate of a prison or placed under the charge of a law enforcement official, we may give out your health information (1) to the prison to provide you with health care; (2) to protect the health and safety of you and others; (3) for the safety of the prison.

• Employers. We may give out health information about you to your employer if we provide health care services to you at the request of your employer, and the health care services are provided either to conduct an evaluation relating to medical surveillance of the workplace or to evaluate whether you have a work-related illness or injury. Disclosures to your employer for any other purpose will only be made if you execute a specific authorization for release of that information to your employer.

• Redisclosure. When we use or give out your health information, it may contain information we received from other hospitals and doctors.

GIVING PERMISSION AND REVOKING PREVIOUS PERMISSION TO USE OR DISCLOSE YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION: Except as stated in this Notice, in order for us to give out your information, you have to complete a written authorization form. If you want, you can later choose not to let us give out your health information. You can do this at any time. Your request to later stop permission to give out your health information must be in writing and sent to the Hospital. It is not possible for us to take back any information we have already given out about you that we made with your permission.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT CONCERNING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION? If you believe your right to privacy has been violated, you can write a complaint that you must give to the Hospital or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To find out how exactly to file a complaint with either the Hospital or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ask the Hospital. THERE IS NO PENALTY FOR FILING A COMPLAINT.