SAFFORD — In a prepared release issued Wednesday, Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center officials said, despite previously believing the information was not compromised, some patients’ data was stolen by hackers in the September ransomware attack on the hospital’s systems.
Officials did not disclose the number of patients impacted, only that they are sending individual letters to those patients “with specific details about potentially accessed data.”
Following the forensic security investigation conducted by the hospital, it was learned the hackers obtained for some patients:
● Demographic information such as names, addresses, email addresses, phone/fax numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, gender, and Social Security numbers
● Treatment information such as medical record numbers and dates of service
● Financial information such as billing account numbers, Medicare numbers, Medicaid numbers, insurance numbers and credit card numbers
The hospital is recommending patients place a fraud alert with the three credit bureaus, and request that each of the credit bureaus send a free credit report after each places a fraud alert on the file. Patients should also monitor bank and credit card statements and, if it is determined personal information has used, go to IdentityTheft.gov to report the criminal activity and start the recovery process.
“We take patient privacy very seriously and sincerely apologize for and regret any concern or inconvenience this matter has caused,” the press release stated.
In a previous statement, issued Oct. 13, MGRMC said, “Initial reviews have determined that the patient medical record system was not breached and we are finalizing our review of all systems to determine if any patient information was compromised.”
The hospital said it is continuing to work with the FBI and cybersecurity experts on the matter, and has engaged TransUnion to provide patients with free credit monitoring and identity theft services for 12 months.
For more information contact Danny Smith, director of Community Relations, at 1-800-664-3509, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday.
