Health Records

For any urgent circle of care requests (urgent requests required for patient care by other healthcare facilities) during non-business hours (weekly 7pm-8am/weekends/stat holidays) please contact Connecting Ontario

Toll free: 1-866-250-1554
Email: servicedesk@ehealthontario.on.ca
All other requests we receive during non-business hours via fax will be processed the following business day.

Under Ontario's Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), you have a right of access to your own personal health information. To access information you can request a copy of your personal information and/or request access to myUHN's Patient Portal.

To request a copy of your personal health information you must provide the following:

• A completed and signed Disclosure of Medical Record Information form
• The pre-paid administrative fee

The consent must be directed to University Health Network, dated within three months, and must list in detail, the records you are requesting and the dates pertaining to the visit.

Requests are processed when the above required information is received in good order. Requests will not be processed without both authorization form and prepayment fee. They are processed in order of receipt. Please note, requests will take approximately 3-15 business days to be processed, although we have up to 30 days to complete as per PHIPA.

myUHN is a free and secure website or app for patients of University Health Network (UHN). myUHN lets you safely see your appointments and results from all UHN sites as soon as they are ready. Ask for an activation code/link at your next visit or by contacting myUHN Support by email at myuhn@uhn.ca or by phone at 416 340 3777. If the patient cannot make a decision for themselves or is deceased, please refer to Requesting records on behalf of an incapable or deceased patient.

Some records might not be viewable in myUHN. If you don't see your record in myUHN, you can contact Health Records and request a digital copy. Learn more on how to request your records through myUHN and how they will be uploaded.

Whether you want your records released to a relative, friend, family doctor or another institution, you must provide signed UHN authorization form  for the hospital to release your information. The consent must be dated and is valid for 90 days.

Parental consent is required if you are less than 16 years of age and not capable of consenting. Otherwise, you can consent to disclosing your information. If there is a conflict between the child and the parent, the capable child's decision prevails with respect to the consent.

UHN does not remove health records in their entirety, but rather, does allow patients to request corrections to be made. In order to make a correction to your record, please fill out the Request to Correct Personal Health Information form , clearly outlining what you are requesting to have changed. The form can be mailed in/emailed/faxed or dropped off in person. Once received health records will notify the health care provider of your request. Health records has a period of 30 days to respond to your request at which time you will be notified whether the change has been made or not.

Under the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), the hospital is not required to make corrections to information that is irrelevant to your care or information that consists of a professional opinion or observation that a health care provider has made in good faith about you. Under PHIPA, you have the right to prepare a concise Statement of Disagreement that sets out the corrections that UHN has refused to make. UHN will attach this Statement as part of the records.

Please note UHN does not correct external documentation – patients will need to contact the organization directly. Please contact Health Records if you have any further questions or concerns about corrections.

Before adding a substitute decision maker, review these tips for uploading a Substitute Decision Maker, Power of Attorney and Executor of Estate documents . If the patient cannot make a decision for themselves or is deceased, please refer to Requesting records on behalf of an incapable or deceased patient.

Once you've gathered the required documents, you can upload them to your myUHN Patient Portal account.

1. Sign into your myUHN Patient Portal
2. Click Menu > Advanced Care Planning
3. Select Add a Preferred Substitute Decision Maker

Health Records will review the documents you've added.

Deceased Patients – To release personal health information of a deceased patient, a signed UHN authorization form  is required from the executor(s) of the estate (with proof, copy of first page where it names the executor(s) and last page where the patient/deceased signed the Will). If no Will exists, a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee or an Administrator of Estate letter is required. Please contact Health Records for more information on these items.

myUHN Patient Portal Access – To create a myUHN Patient Portal account for a family member or deceased patient, a signed myUHN authorization form  is required along with appropriate documentation, eg. POA,SDM, or estate documentation. Once this paper work is received and approved, the myUHN Portal Support Team will assist with proxy access.

POA (Power of Attorney) – To release health information to the POA for personal care, a signed UHN authorization form  is required along with the POA document.

SDM (Substitute Decision Maker) – To release health information to the SDM, a signed UHN authorization form  is required along with proof of SDM.

More information about Substitute Decision Makers & Powers of Attorney for Personal Care  and the Hierarchy of Substitute Decision Makers (SDMs) based on the Health Care Consent Act s.20.

Watch this e-learning module to learn more about SDM's and Powers of Attorney for Personal Care.

If you are looking for your birth information (i.e., proof of birth), please submit a written request that includes your mother's full name at the time of your birth and her date of birth prior to 1988. After 1988 baby records are no longer part of the mothers chart.

The hospital does not issue birth certificates. To obtain a birth certificate, contact Service Ontario at 1 800 461 2156 or through the Service Ontario website.

The hospital does not issue/copy death certificates. To obtain a death certificate, contact Service Ontario at 1 800 461 2156 or through the Service Ontario website.

There is an administrative fee for copies of your record based on the current fee schedule . An administrative fee of $33.90 ($30 + HST) shall apply to all requestors. This includes pages 1 to 20. After the first 20 pages, any additional pages will cost .25 cents per page + HST. Your health record may be provided to you on a CD or USB for an additional $10 + HST (upon request).

Please note: There is no fee to release patient information to other health care facilities or physicians, for continuity of patient care.

If you want to update or correct your name, address, phone or other contact information, please contact your clinic or let them know the next time you check in for your appointment or send an email to HealthRecordServices@uhn.ca.