Pres. Hinckley is on schedule in surgical recovery

President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was said on Friday to be recovering "on schedule" after surgery to remove a cancerous growth in his large intestine.

Church spokesman Dale Bills said in a statement that doctors were "pleased with his progress" and "no further developments were expected through the weekend." No additional details were given.

President Hinckley, 95, was admitted to LDS Hospital on Tuesday afternoon after a routine medical screening, according to church officials. He underwent what is known as laparoscopic colon surgery, which requires smaller incisions and a shorter hospital stay than the standard surgery to treat colon cancer.

In past discussions with the media, President Hinckley has said that he had only spent one day of his life in a hospital. While he is recovering, his work will be handled by President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust, first and second counselors, respectively, in the First Presidency of the LDS Church.

In related news, KUTV Channel 2 was reporting on its Web site Friday that two Cottonwood Hospital employees were fired in relation to news reports about President Hinckley's hospitalization.

One employee was reportedly fired for violating company policy by sharing a computer password and the other for leaking patient information and inappropriately using someone else's password, according to KUTV. Federal privacy laws prohibit doctors and caretakers from talking about patients.

A spokesman for both LDS and Cottonwood hospitals, Jess Gomez, declined to confirm the report, saying they don't comment on personnel issues.

He did answer questions about Intermountain Health Care's policies surrounding both patient privacy and appropriate access to medical records.

The computer access policy, explained very clearly to each employee, he said, states you don't share passwords or computer access. "They are all told to keep theirs very confidential," he said. Further, employees are only allowed to access medical data for patients to whom they are providing direct care. "Just because you work in the hospital doesn't give you authorization to access information on a patient." They can and do monitor who calls up patient records, he said.

Patient privacy, Gomez said, "is not just hospital policy, but federal law. Besides providing the best care possible, trust is one of the most important things we can provide to patients. It's important they know their information is protected and only those providing direct care, who need to know, can access it."