I’m Kate Dewhirst.

My team and I write about legal issues affecting healthcare in Canada.

Kate Dewhirst Health Law - bringing the law to life. Meet Kate (in 13 seconds)

Month: September 2017


Stop and think before you post any of the following on social media

Posted by

If you are a health care leader, at some point you have wondered about the risks of social media. You know you need to use social media platforms to share your organizational message. And you may want to expand what you are doing though social media in order to stay relevant with your patient population like add… Read more »


Privacy Officer training for Primary Care Clinics – October and November 2017

Posted by

If you are a Privacy Officer for a primary care clinic – this course is for you! Full details and registration I have taught a few hundred Privacy Officers how to feel more confident in what they do.  It’s my passion to bring the law to life. Through storytelling and scenario-based learning you will learn… Read more »


Health Privacy Update – September 2017 – 2 new IPC guidance documents for health care organizations

Posted by

The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario just released a new practice guideline last week to assist health care organizations to better understand their upcoming new obligations to report privacy breaches to the IPC. Here is the document: health-privacy-breach-notification-guidelines Those new obligations come into effect on October 1st. A few weeks ago, the IPC released another practice direction related to  Frivolous and… Read more »


Professional Staff succession planning – does your hospital have a plan?

Posted by

Professional Staff in hospitals are doctors, dentists, midwives and privileged staff nurse practitioners. Does your hospital have a plan to deal with Professional Staff retirements, departures and recruitment? Do any of these scenarios sound familiar? You are worried about a future brain drain – when you look into the future, you can see the possibly of… Read more »

Some of Kate’s recent and upcoming events

Free healthcare privacy webinar - ask me anything!
the first Wednesday of every month

Free webinars - advance registration needed

Whether you're an experienced privacy officer or new in the field, pick Kate’s brain for free for an hour, in this live webinar. No charge, but you’ll need to register in advance.

Health Privacy Officer Foundations training
starts October 2023

For Privacy Officers within healthcare organizations.

This course focuses on how to become a more confident privacy officer and gives you the tools to document your privacy program. Full details and registration here...

Join the Shush: a collective of health privacy officers
Annual membership 2023

For Privacy Officers within healthcare organizations

This is an annual membership program that takes theory into practice and tackles real life scenarios to build Privacy Officer skills.
Full details and registration here.

Primary care webinars: Employment Law Update & Legal Issues for EDs and Board members

Part of Kate’s monthly webinar series.

Our February program will address an update on the laws that apply to Primary Care Teams and in March we discuss human rights tips.
Full details of the 2023 webinar series and registration here.

Team Privacy Training Events

For Primary Care clinics, Hospitals, Community Agencies, Mental Health Teams, Public Health Units, School Boards, Police departments

Next sessions in the Fall - on Termination Tips, Departing Physicians, Toxic Employees and Privacy issues . More details...

Join the Proof: a collective of Credentialing Officers
Annual membership 2023

For Credentialing Officers from hospitals such as Medical Affairs leaders, Chiefs of Staff and Credentialing Committee Chairs

This is an annual membership program that builds capacity within your hospital.
Full details and registration here.

Free summary of all PHIPA IPC decisions

Want to read privacy breach stories to learn how to improve your work? We have summarized all the Information and Privacy Commissioner's health privacy decisions for you Download here...

Kate Dewhirst Health Law

Kate says:

My mission is bringing the law to life. I make legal theory understandable, accessible and fun! I’m available and love to work for all organizations in the healthcare sector across Ontario and beyond.

Subscribe to my mailing list and keep up to date with news:

Latest Tweets

  • Our twitter feed is unavailable right now. Follow us on Twitter
  • contact details

    P.O. Box 97010 Roncesvalles
    Toronto Ontario M6R 3B3

    (416) 855 9557

    .