Untitled (Division Of Epidemiology, Environmental, And Occupational Health)

Dear Ms. Garrity:

The Division of Epidemiology Environmental and Occupational Health (EEOH) is in receipt of your Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request, copied below:

"Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Any and all inspections, interviews, telephone conversations and reports related to the cyclospora outbreak in Somerset County, New Jersey from June 1, 2019 to July 30, 2019. Including inspections records of the restaurant, Seasons 52, in Bridgewater, New Jersey between June 1, 2019 to July 30, 2019 and my personal health records and interviews.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of my total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer this request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires."

The reference number for this request is #C164423. We anticipate that the requested records will be made available to you by October 19, 2020.

Please note that the Division received two separate requests from you for the same information using the two email addressed on this email. Please confirm that these requests are duplicative and that we can use this email chain and referenced number to fill your requests in both of these letters.

Sincerely,
Dave J. Sellinger
Legal Specialist

Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail, including any attachments, may include advisory, consultative and/or deliberative material and, as such, would be privileged and/or confidential and not a public document. Any information in this e-mail identifying a client of the Department of Health or including protected health information is confidential. If you received this e-mail in error, you are not authorized to review, transmit, convert to hard copy, copy, or in any way further use or disseminate this e-mail or any attachments to it. You must immediately notify the sender and delete this message. If the email you received in error contained client or protected health information, you must also notify the Data Privacy Officer immediately at privacy.officer@doh.nj.gov and confirm in writing that you deleted the email(s)/attachment(s) and that you did not/will not further use or disclose the information contained in the email.

Dear Ms. Garrity:

This is in response to Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request below. The attached records were found and are responsive to your request.

Please note that to the extent that any additional records may exist. The government records law excludes from the definition of a “government record,” at N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1:

1. Records containing information in which an individual might have a “reasonable expectation of privacy.” N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1;

2. Records containing information “concerning individuals… relating to medical, psychiatric, or psychological history, diagnosis, treatment or evaluation,” Executive Order 26 §4b1 (McGreevey, 2002);

3. Records “concerning morbidity, mortality and reportable diseases of named persons required to be made, maintained or kept by any State or local government agency,” Executive Order 9, §2c (Hughes, 1963).

Based on the foregoing, we cannot produce your own records under the OPRA statute. However, please find attached an "Authorization to Release Health Information From." If you fill this form and return it to me, I can provide you with your own records outside of the OPRA process.

Sincerely,
Steven Bors
Records Custodian (EEOH)

SB:djs

Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail, including any attachments, may include advisory, consultative and/or deliberative material and, as such, would be privileged and/or confidential and not a public document. Any information in this e-mail identifying a client of the Department of Health or including protected health information is confidential. If you received this e-mail in error, you are not authorized to review, transmit, convert to hard copy, copy, or in any way further use or disseminate this e-mail or any attachments to it. You must immediately notify the sender and delete this message. If the email you received in error contained client or protected health information, you must also notify the Data Privacy Officer immediately at privacy.officer@doh.nj.gov and confirm in writing that you deleted the email(s)/attachment(s) and that you did not/will not further use or disclose the information contained in the email.

Dear Ms. Garrity:

Thank you for providing the signed authorization. Please find your personal medical records attached.

These records, including the spreadsheet, were prepared and provided by our infectious disease team. The records that were sent over are the totality of the records in relation to these outbreaks.

Sincerely,
Dave J. Sellinger
Legal Specialist

Dear Ms. Garrity:

Please find attached a spreadsheet. It is split into three tabs at the bottom and includes additional information. Please note that all personal identifying information was redacted from this spreadsheet, as this information is exempt for the reasons that were cited in the initial response of October 19, 2020.

Sincerely,
Dave J. Sellinger
Legal Specialist (EEOH)