Bangor Daily News reports on an incident involving the improper disposal of Veterans' Affairs (VA) medical records at a VA hospital in Maine. Unshredded documents containing patient data were placed in a dumpster on the hospital grounds but were discovered by a VA employee. The medical center's privacy officer notified the VA central office, inspected the dumpster and transportation vehicles and repossessed any documents with sensitive information. A spokesman for the VA hospital said the documents never left VA possession. The privacy officer has since set up training and counseling for all employees involved and has conducted follow-up monitoring to ensure the mistake would not be repeated, the spokesman said.
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