The Saskatchewan government's decision to amend privacy rules that will allow the names and addresses of hospital patients to be used for fundraising is receiving opposition from the province's privacy commissioner and the NDP.

"The intention of this change is to make it easier for publicly-funded health facilities to identify people who might be motivated to donate, while maintaining meaningful protection of patients' privacy," said Health Minister Don McMorris in a news release.

But Gary Dickson, Saskatchewan's privacy commissioner, said the government should not be putting convenience for fundraisers above the privacy of patients.

"Information that's provided so we can be diagnosed and treated shouldn't be shared with any third party without the consent of the patient," said Dickson. "This obviously violates that. If I provide information to Regina Qu'Appelle health region for treatment I wouldn't expect that to be shared with a fundraising body that has nothing to do with treating or diagnosing me."

Jacqueline Messer-Lepage, provincial health privacy officer, said patients still have final say over their information and that it is up to the health regions to decide whether they want an opt-in or opt-out process.

"The regulation allows for individuals to opt out, so basically they're in unless they tell us otherwise. That said, certain health regions may choose to go with an opt-in process so they may choose to just say 'you know if you tell us you're interested in being on the list we'll put you on the list' - it's at the discretion of the regional health authorities."

The provincial NDP said in a news release that the Brad Wall government should have consulted patients and the public before reaching a decision.

"Health Minister Don McMorris says his government consulted with the health regions and hospital administrators before coming to the decision that it was somehow conscionable to release patients' personal contact information to health organizations for fundraising," said NDP health critic Judy Junor in a press release. "Yet the most important people who should have been consulted - the patients, the public - were left in the dark."

Former patients will be allowed to opt out and the amended rules won't apply to children, patients in palliative care and residents of long-term care homes, provincial officials said Tuesday.

The amendment, which was approved last week, comes into effect in May.

Hospital foundations pleased

For the last several years, health regions and hospital foundations have been trying to win back the ability to contact patients directly for donations, said Messer-Lepage.

Health regions used and shared such information for decades, but that was banned by the then-NDP government in 2003.

"What hospitals have been doing is broad-based fundraising, so they haven't been contacting individuals directly," said Messer-Lepage. "And using a more direct approach has been proven to be more effective, so basically for the amount of time and money they're spending to fundraise this should be far more effective than the broad-scale approach."

Judy Davis, chief executive of the Hospitals of Regina Foundation, welcomed the new regulations, saying they will again allow groups such as hers to build long-lasting relationships with individual donors.

Davis's group raises money for three hospitals in the city, and many patients would welcome a way to give back to those facilities, she said.

"That's really the essence of fundraising. It's all around building the relationship and retaining that supporter over a lifetime," said Davis.

When they dropped their Grateful Patient program in 2002, the foundation likely lost out on roughly $100,000 per year in donations, she said.

Davis said the money they've raised has been spent on a wide range of projects, including a stroke rehabilitation unit and a centre for mothers and babies, which will open at the end of this year.

Donations will only be solicited in writing and no telemarketers will call former patients, she said.

"I'm sure there will be the odd person who won't appreciate it, but once again, they can opt out and they won't receive any correspondence whatsoever," said Davis.

With files from The Canadian Press