By HFT Staff

Warren General Hospital (WGH) is issuing notice of a recent data security event that potentially affected the confidentiality of information related to certain current and former WGH patients and/or current and former WGH employees. They are providing information about the event, their response and steps potentially affected individuals may take to better protect against the possibility of identity theft and fraud, should these individuals feel it is appropriate to do so. 

On September 24, 2023, WGH identified suspicious activity on their network. WGH immediately took steps to secure their systems and launched an investigation into the nature and scope of the activity with the assistance of industry-leading cybersecurity specialists. They also promptly reported the event to federal law enforcement. The investigation determined that an unknown actor accessed certain computer systems in their network between September 15, 2023, and September 23, 2023, and downloaded certain information from their network. In response, they undertook a comprehensive review of their internal records to determine what information was present on the affected systems and identified contact information to provide notification to potentially impacted individuals. WGH recently completed their review. 

The types of information that may have been present on the impacted systems includes name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, financial account information, payment card information, health insurance claims information, and medical information including diagnosis, medications, lab results and other treatment information. Please note that the specific type of information may vary for each individual. 

Upon learning of this event, WGH moved quickly to investigate and respond, assess the security of their network, and notify potentially affected individuals. They reviewed existing policies and procedures, enhanced administrative and technical controls, and provided additional security training to reduce the likelihood of a similar future event. WGH also reported the event to appropriate governmental agencies, including federal law enforcement and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

As a precautionary measure, individuals are encouraged to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft by reviewing account statements, credit reports, and explanations of benefits for unusual activity and to detect errors.