During the last week of March 2011, surgery schedules were stolen from a closed patient registration area. These documents were recovered during an investigation of mail theft by the U.S. Postal Inspector during the first week of April 2011. The U.S. Postal Inspector notified the hospital of the theft at that time. Over the past few weeks, Trinity has worked with the Postal Inspector and police to identify all patients whose information was stolen. If you were a Trinity patient and your information was included in this theft, Trinity has sent you a letter personally notifying you of this event and offering free credit monitoring.
The information contained on the surgery schedules included patient names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and some medical information such as the scheduled procedure. Trinity is committed to maintaining the privacy and security of our patients' information and sincerely regrets that this breach occurred. As a result of the theft, the hospital is increasing security by changing access to the registration area of the involved department.
All stolen information has been recovered and an arrest has been made in the case. The hospital has no reason to believe this information has been or will be used in a way that would cause harm.
Trinity is helping affected patients take steps to protect themselves against any possible misuse of their financial information, including one free year membership in Experian's Triple Advantage Premium Credit Monitoring program at no cost to affected patients. In order to take advantage of this free Credit Monitoring Program please call 1-866-367-5548 to obtain your Credit Monitoring Program Activation Code and for information on how to activate your membership.
Other steps individuals may take to protect their financial information include:
- Check credit reports frequently and address suspicious activity quickly
- Add a fraud alert message to credit reports
- Visit the Federal Trade Commission's website: www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/ or call toll-free, 1-877-438-4338 for detailed information on avoiding, detecting, and reporting identity theft.
Trinity Medical Center sincerely apologizes to its patients who were affected by this incident and has provided each of them with a written letter of notification.