A B.C. health-care worker has been fired after admitting to sneaking a peek at the personal health files of five Vancouver media personalities.

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority says the privacy breach was discovered during a routine audit in November, and when the employee was confronted the person admitting to looking at the records out of "curiosity."

The health authority has contacted all of the individuals involved, but is not naming them publicly.

The media personalities involved in the privacy breach were not namedThe media personalities involved in the privacy breach were not named (iStock)

Authority President Dr. David Ostrow says the employee violated its confidentiality agreement and has apologized in a news release to the people impacted and also to all patients, clients and residents.

The authority conducts regular audits to look for signs that an employee or doctor might be accessing records for non-clinical reasons.

Last fall, B.C.'s privacy commissioner opened an investigation into the loss of a Vancouver Coastal Health laptop computer at the Toronto airport containing the health records of 450 patients.