I’m Kate Dewhirst.

Get my legal training for healthcare teams all over Ontario.

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

Legal training for healthcare teams

I love teaching and training. Here are some of the topics I teach on.


Privacy Officer Training

Carrying out the duties of a Privacy Officer correctly is vital to ensure your organization is safe from the consequences of a big privacy breach. More than 100 people took this training with me last year and in total I've trained Privacy Officers from more than 200 healthcare organizations how to get beyond “overwhelmed” and be confident in the role.

Join me for my next Privacy Officer Training in Toronto and online.

I would highly recommend Kate's Privacy Officer Training. I completed this a year ago and the training itself is excellent - both content and cost. The ongoing access to her online forum and responses to requests are essential in my day-to-day running of a large medical practice. She knows her stuff and is happy to help by pointing you in the right direction or let you know that specific legal advice is best. One of the things I love about Kate is that the few times she doesn't know the answer in the moment, she is not shy about saying she will get back to you - which she does, every single time, always sooner than I expected. An exceptional resource in health privacy.

Frances Roesch, Queen Square Doctors 2018
Kate teaching

Kate teaching

Privacy Training for Teams

When you deal with a privacy breach, one of the first questions Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner will ask is what training you provided your team. I have taught more than 8500 Ontario health professionals about privacy, and it's one of my favourite topics!

I couldn’t have imagined enjoying privacy training as much as I did. Fabulous presentation of a difficult topic.

Dr Kim Ferguson, Port Perry Medical

I would recommend this training without reservation. In this transformative and evolving realm of ‘privacy’, Kate is able to stay current and deliver relevant real world examples. Not only has she mastered this topic, but is able to engage and connect with her audience on an emotional level. Kate is able to deliver a seemingly mundane subject with candor and confidence. You won't be disappointed!

Cory Backer, Executive Director, Blue Sky FHT

Kate, Thank you for putting this all into the RIGHT perspective for us. You are doing good things in the world and we can tell you really understand and are passionate about this topic. Going forward, we have USEFUL knowledge for our day to day practice.

Caitlin Christie RN, PrimaCare Community FHT

Managing Conflict in Healthcare

Does your team struggle to manage conflict with patients and caregivers? Do you want a safe and fun environment to talk about difficult situations that your healthcare organization faces? This workshop develops individual and team strategies for dealing with common and extraordinary difficult situations involving patients and their caregivers and other visitors. This is session is highly interactive and team-based.

As always Kate was excellent. The training not only met our expectations or help us in our work but also it did strengthen our team spirit and cohesion. We will build on this training and the tools we have been provided.

Caroline Prévost, Executive Director, Plantagenet FHT

I feel this training session was excellent and Kate Dewhirst is a great facilitator with knowledgeable information and facts.

Cheryl Cameron, Medical Secretary, Arnprior FHT

Kate is AWESOME! Such an excellent speaker. Very engaging, knowledgeable and personable. By far, my FAVOURITE facilitator in 30 years in the medical field.

Rhonda Ruppert, Site Coordinator, Cottage Country FHT
Bitmoji of Kate showing fire

Documents from the Advanced Privacy Officer training course

Advanced Privacy Officer Training

You’re an experienced Privacy Officer. You’ve taken the basic training, you know the law, and you understand the theory. Now sharpen your skills and test your judgement by joining me for this great day of interactive scenario-based training and learning.

I consider myself a relatively skilled and knowledgeable Privacy professional. Kate did an awesome job addressing the issues that come across my desk. Going through Kate’s scenarios made me realize how much I didn’t know. I would definitely recommend this training session to anyone that already has the foundations of health privacy. Worth every dollar.

Simeon I. Kanev, MI, CIPP/C, CCEP-I, Association of Ontario Health Centres
More information

Legal Issues for Primary Care Practices and Family Health Teams – Monthly Webinar Series

In 2020 my monthy webinar series moved into its seventh year, and again I've been privileged and delighted to be working with Maria McDonald from McDonald HR Law.

There's still time to join the more than 50 teams whose executives participate in a monthly webinar on a legal topic of interest.

teaching slides

I also teach about...

I'll be happy to talk to you about any of these topics.


Contact us.

Every website needs a contact form - here’s mine. If you think you might need legal advice, or training, if you want to know more or if you’re just having a bad day and want to tell someone about it, please get in touch.

Kate Dewhirst Health Law

Bringing the law to life.

Mailing address:

P.O. Box 13024
RPO Bradford Centre
Bradford, ON, L3Z 2Y5

Telephone:

(416) 855 9557

Please do not send any urgent, sensitive or confidential information from this website. Contacting me, sending me an email or completing a request for me to contact you will not make me your lawyer. That's because there are rules I have to follow to determine whether I can advise you. There may be situations where I cannot act for you because of a conflict of interest or if I do not have the expertise you need. You are not a client unless and until I have agreed to act for you in which case I will write to you to explain how I work and my legal terms and conditions. By clicking “Send” you acknowledge that you have read and understood this disclaimer and that Kate Dewhirst is not yet retained to represent you.

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 March 2024

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 2024

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 2024 program is now live.
Full details of the 2024 webinar series and registration here.

Mental Health webinars: Legal issues for mental health and addictions agencies and teams
Annual membership 2024

For managers and other leaders from mental health and addictions agencies, hospitals, CMHAs, CHCs, school boards, FHTs and Indigenous health services

This is an annual membership program with monthly webinars.
Full details and registration here.

Team Privacy Training Events

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

Scheduled to your team's needs for comprehensive or refresher training More details...

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.

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  • contact details

    P.O. Box 13024, RPO Bradford Centre
    Bradford, ON, L3Z 2Y5

    (416) 855 9557