Skip Navigation

Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective Date: July 16, 2026

Applies to: Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Support, Nursing Households, and Outpatient Services of Bridgewater Home, Bridgewater Healthcare and Bridgewater Village

Bridgewater Retirement Community
302 North Second Street
Bridgewater, Virginia 22812

Privacy Officer: Anne O’Donohue

Email: aodonohue@brcliving.org

________________________________________

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Bridgewater Retirement Community, referred to in this Notice as “BRC,” “we,” “our,” or “us,” is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your health information. This Notice explains how we may use and disclose your protected health information, your rights regarding that information, and our legal responsibilities.

BRC provides services as Bridgewater Home, Bridgewater Village, Bridgewater Healthcare and Bridgewater Healthcare Foundation across multiple residential and health care settings, including Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Support, Nursing Households, and Outpatient Services. Because BRC is regulated as a nursing home as well as an assisted living provider, this Notice applies to health information we create, receive, maintain, or transmit in connection with the care, services, billing, and operations of these programs.

This Notice is intended to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, commonly known as HIPAA, the HITECH Act, applicable federal privacy and breach notification requirements, relevant provisions of 42 CFR Part 2 regarding substance use disorder records when applicable, and applicable Virginia resident rights and privacy requirements.

________________________________________

Your Rights

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

You have the right to get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record.

You may ask to see or receive an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we maintain about you.

We will provide a copy or summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee as permitted by law.

You have the right to ask us to correct your medical record.

You may ask us to correct health information about you that you believe is incorrect or incomplete.

We may say “no” to your request, but we will tell you why in writing, usually within 60 days.

You have the right to request confidential communications.

You may ask us to contact you in a specific way, such as by phone, email, mail, or through a particular address, or to send mail to a different address.

We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.

You have the right to ask us to limit what we use or share.

You may ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or health care operations.

We are not required to agree to your request, except in the situation described below, but we will consider your request carefully.

If you pay for a health care item or service out of pocket in full, you may ask us not to share information about that item or service with your health plan for payment or health care operations purposes. We will agree unless a law requires us to share that information.

You have the right to get a list of those with whom we have shared information.

You may ask for an accounting of certain disclosures of your health information for up to six years before the date of your request.

This accounting will include certain disclosures, but it will not include all disclosures, such as those made for treatment, payment, health care operations, disclosures you authorized, and certain other disclosures permitted by law.

We will provide one accounting per year for free, but we may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

You have the right to get a copy of this Notice.

You may ask for a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

You have the right to choose someone to act for you.

If you have given someone medical power of attorney, or if someone is your legal guardian, that person may exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.

We will make reasonable efforts to verify that the person has the authority to act for you before we take any action.

You have the right to file a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

You may file a complaint with us if you believe we have violated your privacy rights.

You may contact:

Anne O’Donohue, Privacy Officer
Bridgewater Retirement Community
302 North Second Street
Bridgewater, Virginia 22812
Email: aodonohue@brcliving.org

You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. OCR accepts HIPAA and Part 2 privacy complaints and provides an online complaint portal. OCR may also be contacted at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Room 509F, HHH Building, Washington, DC 20201; toll-free 800-368-1019; TDD 800-537-7697.

We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

________________________________________

Your Choices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference about how we share your information in the situations described below, please tell us what you want us to do.

You have choices in the way we share information as we:

Tell family members, friends, responsible parties, or others involved in your care about your condition.

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious or unable to communicate, we may share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

Facility directory.

If BRC maintains a facility directory for residents in certain care settings, we may include limited information such as your name, location in the facility, general condition, or religious affiliation, when permitted by law. Religious affiliation may be shared only with clergy or spiritual care representatives, even if they do not ask for you by name.

You may tell us not to include your information in a facility directory.

In these cases, we generally do not share your information unless you give us written permission:

Fundraising.

We may contact you for fundraising efforts that support BRC. You have the right to opt out of receiving fundraising communications by contacting the Bridgewater Healthcare Foundation.

________________________________________

Our Uses and Disclosures

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

We may use and share your health information to treat you.

We may use your health information and share it with physicians, nurses, therapists, pharmacists, direct care staff, outside providers, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, consultants, transportation providers, hospice providers, or others involved in your care.

Example: We may share information about your medications, allergies, diagnoses, care plan, dietary needs, therapy progress, or recent change in condition with staff or outside clinicians involved in your care.

We may use and share your health information to run our organization.

We may use and share your health information to operate BRC, improve your care, train team members, manage quality, conduct compliance activities, evaluate services, conduct audits, resolve grievances, support care coordination, and contact you when necessary.

Example: We may use your health information to review the quality of care provided in our Nursing Households or Assisted Living program or to train team members on proper documentation and care practices.

We may use and share your health information to bill for your services.

We may use and share your health information to bill and receive payment from Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, long-term care insurance, managed care organizations, you, your responsible party, or other payors.

Example: We may give information about services you received to your health plan so it will pay for those services.

________________________________________

Other Ways We May Use or Share Your Health Information

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways, usually in ways that contribute to public health, resident safety, oversight, or legal compliance. We must meet legal conditions before sharing your information for these purposes.

We may share information for public health and safety.

We may share health information for certain situations, such as:

We may share information about abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

We may disclose health information to appropriate authorities if we reasonably believe a resident has been the victim of abuse, neglect, exploitation, domestic violence, or other harm, or when reporting is required by law.

We may comply with the law.

We will share information about you when state or federal law requires it. This may include disclosures to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we are complying with federal privacy laws.

We may respond to organ and tissue donation requests.

We may share health information with organ procurement organizations or similar entities, when applicable.

We may work with a medical examiner, coroner, or funeral director.

We may share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.

We may address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests.

We may use or share health information:

We may respond to lawsuits and legal actions.

We may share health information in response to a court or administrative order, subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process, but only as permitted or required by law.

________________________________________

Special Protections for Substance Use Disorder Records

Federal law provides special protections for certain substance use disorder, or SUD, treatment records that are subject to 42 CFR Part 2. HHS updated the Part 2 regulations and related HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices requirements, with compliance required by February 16, 2026. The current Part 2 rules require Part 2 programs to provide plain-language notice of federal confidentiality protections, permitted uses and disclosures, patient rights, complaint rights, and legal duties.

If BRC creates, receives, maintains, or transmits records that are protected by 42 CFR Part 2, we will protect those records as required by federal law.

Special rules for Part 2 records.

Bridgewater Retirement Community is not a federally assisted substance use disorder treatment program regulated under 42 CFR Part 2. However, Bridgewater Retirement Community may receive health information from other providers that is subject to additional federal confidentiality protections. When such information is received, Bridgewater Retirement Community will maintain and protect it as required by applicable law.

________________________________________

Long-Term Care and Resident Rights

BRC respects the privacy, dignity, confidentiality, and resident rights of individuals living in or receiving services from our community.

Residents of nursing facilities and assisted living facilities have rights under federal and Virginia law, including rights related to dignity, privacy, access to information, participation in care, grievances, and confidentiality of personal affairs and records. Virginia requires assisted living facilities to protect resident rights and to maintain policies and procedures implementing those rights. Virginia nursing facility regulations also require nursing facilities to develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure resident rights, provide grievance procedures, and provide copies of resident rights upon admission and as required.

Nothing in this Notice is intended to limit any resident right provided under federal or Virginia law.

________________________________________

Special Situations

Personal representatives.

We may treat a legally authorized personal representative as you for purposes of exercising your privacy rights. This may include a guardian, agent under a health care power of attorney, executor, administrator, or other person authorized by law.

Minors and incapacitated individuals.

For minors or individuals who are unable to make decisions for themselves, we will follow applicable federal and state law regarding parents, guardians, authorized representatives, and substitute decision-makers.

Deceased individuals.

We may protect health information following death as required by law. We may disclose information to family members, personal representatives, funeral directors, coroners, medical examiners, or others as permitted or required by law.

Business associates.

We may share your health information with contractors or vendors who perform services for BRC, such as billing companies, consultants, technology vendors, pharmacy service providers, therapy providers, auditors, attorneys, or other service partners. These business associates must agree to protect your health information as required by HIPAA.

Electronic health information and health information exchange.

We may maintain health information electronically and may participate in electronic systems that support treatment, payment, health care operations, care coordination, regulatory reporting, or other permitted purposes. We will safeguard electronic protected health information as required by law.

________________________________________

Our Responsibilities

We are required by law to:

________________________________________

Changes to the Terms of This Notice

We may change the terms of this Notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new Notice will be available upon request, in our community, and on our website.

________________________________________

Questions or Complaints

If you have questions about this Notice, want to exercise your rights, or want to file a complaint, please contact:

Anne O’Donohue, Privacy Officer
Bridgewater Retirement Community
302 North Second Street
Bridgewater, Virginia 22812
Email: aodonohue@brcliving.org

 

To remain eligible for the Home No Matter What Promise, residents must fulfill their obligations in turn as citizens of the BRC community and not give away the resources needed to meet financial obligations to BRC.