Nipomo resident sues CHC for allegedly disclosing his mental health records

A Nipomo man is suing Community Health Centers (CHC) for what he said was a breach of his private mental health records. 

In a lawsuit filed on Sept. 19 in the Cook Division of Santa Barbara County Superior Court, Christopher Lemoine alleges that CHC negligently violated his privacy by including his mental health records as a response to a subpoena for a separate court case in San Luis Obispo County. 

The latter case involves a lawsuit Lemoine filed against the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo (SLO) County, where he told the Sun he suffered physical injuries as a result of an incident on March 5, 2014, in Oceano. 

According to the court documents related to the SLO County case, Lemoine said he injured his lower back, left shoulder, and hip after falling out of a loading truck. 

During the course of the lawsuit, Lemoine said the Food Bank’s attorney, Clayton Hall, subpoenaed medical records from CHC, who included his mental health information with everything else. 

Lemoine, who is a certified paralegal, said that he had received a variety of services from CHC, including some for behavioral health, but that they should’ve never been included in the response to the subpoena.

“They make no distinction with their medical records under the law,” Lemoine said. “The issue here is CHC apparently has no means to make a distinction of implement or distinction in the records when served with subpoenas.” 

Had he known CHC was going to disclose sensitive mental health information, Lemoine said he would’ve quashed the subpoena. 

Food Bank attorney Hall didn’t return calls from the Sun before press time. 

However, Michael Buda, CHC’s legal counsel and director for human resources, told the Sun that he wasn’t aware of the lawsuit, although he added that CHC protects the privacy of all patient records. 

“Our policy would be in line with state and federal laws with confidentiality,” Buda said. 

 Linda Costa, CHC’s chief financial officer, told the Sun that she is aware of the case and added that the organization is being represented by an attorney from the federal government. 

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