1 In this Act, “disclose” means, with respect to quality of care information, to provide or make the information available to a person who is not a member of the quality of care committee with which the information is associated, and “disclosure” has a corresponding meaning; (“divulguer”, “divulgation”) “health care” means any observation, examination, assessment, care, service or procedure that is done for a health-related purpose and that, (a) is carried out or provided to diagnose, treat or maintain an individual’s physical or mental condition, (b) is carried out or provided to prevent disease or injury or to promote health, or (c) is carried out or provided as part of palliative care, and includes, (d) the compounding, dispensing or selling of a drug, a device, equipment or any other item to an individual, or for the use of an individual, pursuant to a prescription, and (e) a prescribed type of service; (“soins de santé”) “health facility” means a hospital within the meaning of the Public Hospitals Act, a private hospital within the meaning of the Private Hospitals Act, a psychiatric facility within the meaning of the Mental Health Act or an independent health facility within the meaning of the Independent Health Facilities Act; (“établissement de santé”) “information” includes personal health information as defined in the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004; (“renseignements”) “Minister” means the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care; (“ministre”) “proceeding” includes a proceeding that is within the jurisdiction of the Legislature and that is held in, before or under the rules of a court, a tribunal, a commission, a justice of the peace, a coroner, a committee of a College within the meaning of the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991, a committee of the Board of Regents continued under the Drugless Practitioners Act, a committee of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers under the Social Work and Social Service Work Act, 1998, an arbitrator or a mediator, but does not include any activities carried on by a quality of care committee; (“instance”) “quality of care committee” means a body of one or more individuals, (a) that is established, appointed or approved, (i) by a health facility, (ii) by an entity that is prescribed by the regulations and that provides health care, or (iii) by an entity that is prescribed by the regulations and that carries on activities for the purpose of improving or maintaining the quality of care provided by a health facility, a health care provider or a class of health facility or health care provider, (b) that meets the prescribed criteria, if any, and (c) whose functions are to carry on activities for the purpose of studying, assessing or evaluating the provision of health care with a view to improving or maintaining the quality of the health care or the level of skill, knowledge and competence of the persons who provide the health care; (“comité de la qualité des soins”) “quality of care information” means information that, (a) is collected by or prepared for a quality of care committee for the sole or primary purpose of assisting the committee in carrying out its functions, or (b) relates solely or primarily to any activity that a quality of care committee carries on as part of its functions, but does not include, (c) information contained in a record that is maintained for the purpose of providing health care to an individual, (d) information contained in a record that is required by law to be created or to be maintained, (e) facts contained in a record of an incident involving the provision of health care to an individual, except if the facts involving the incident are also fully recorded in a record mentioned in clause (c) relating to the individual, or (f) information that a regulation specifies is not quality of care information and that a quality of care committee receives after the day on which that regulation is made; (“renseignements sur la qualité des soins”) “regulations” mean the regulations made under this Act; (“règlements”) “use”, with respect to quality of care information, does not include to disclose the information and “use”, as a noun, does not include disclosure of the information; (“utiliser”, “utilisation”) “witness” means a person, whether or not a party to a proceeding, who, in the course of the proceeding, (a) is examined or cross-examined for discovery, either orally or in writing, (b) makes an affidavit, or (c) is competent or compellable to be examined or cross-examined or to produce a document, whether under oath or not. (“témoin”)  2004, c. 3, Sched. B, s. 1; 2009, c. 33, Sched. 18, s. 28 (1).