Escondido, California – December 14, 2022 – The Elizabeth Hospice (“TEH”) announced today that it will be notifying certain current and former patients that their personal information may have been exposed as a result an employee forwarding email from her business email account to her personal email account. As of this writing, TEH has not received any reports of related identity theft since the date of the Incident. TEH takes the privacy and security of information in its possession very seriously and sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience this incident may cause. This notice is intended to alert potentially impacted individuals of the incident, steps we are taking in response, and resources available to assist and protect individuals.
What Happened On October 21, 2022, TEH learned that one its now former employees was forwarding emails from her business email account to her personal email account while employed with the organization. TEH immediately began an internal review of the employee’s business email account. Although TEH is unaware of any fraudulent misuse of information, TEH determined on November 14, 2022, that patient information may have been exposed as a result of this incident.
TEH is providing written notice to all impacted individuals. TEH has no reason to believe that any individual’s information has been misused as a result of this event.
What Information Was Involved The information involved included: first name, last name, date of admission, date of discharge, patient account number, and basic health information. However, please note that the information did not include any individual’s Social Security number, financial account information, and debit or credit card numbers.
What We Are Doing Data security is one of our highest priorities. TEH is committed to ensuring the security and privacy of all personal information in its control, and is taking steps to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future. Upon discovery of the Incident, TEH moved quickly to respond to the Incident, which included conducting an investigation to determine the extent of PHI transferred and identify potentially impacted individuals.
Although TEH is not aware of any actual or attempted misuse of the affected personal information. TEH provided guidance on how to better protect against identity theft and fraud, including providing information on how to place a fraud alert and security freeze on one’s credit file, the contact details for the national consumer reporting agencies, information on how to obtain a free credit report, a reminder to remain vigilant for incidents of fraud and identity theft by reviewing account statements and monitoring free credit reports, and the contact details for the Federal Trade Commission.
For More Information For individuals seeking more information or questions about this incident, please call TEH’s dedicated toll-free helpline at 1-833-530-1802 on Monday through Friday between 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Eastern, excluding holidays.
TEH sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience this incident may cause to members of its community and remains dedicated to maintaining the security and protection of all patient information in its control.