LOS ANGELES (CNS) - St. John's Well Child and Family Center is investigating a data security breach involving personal or health information of certain current and former patients, according to officials with the Los Angeles nonprofit.
St. John's said notification letters were sent to an undisclosed number of potentially affected patients on Tuesday.
Upon discovering the data security incident that disrupted access to certain systems on Feb. 3, “ St. John's took steps to secure its network and launched an investigation with the assistance of cybersecurity experts to determine what happened and whether sensitive information may have been affected,'' according to a statement issued by the nonprofit.
“The investigation subsequently revealed that certain personal or health information may have been accessed or acquired without authorization during the incident. On or about March 25, 2021, St. John's completed a comprehensive review which identified certain patients as potentially affected, and took steps to issue notifications. This information included names, dates of birth, gender, contact information, patient and person identification numbers, medical treatment or diagnostic information, and/or insurance information, and in one case, a Social Security number.''
St. John's said it “takes the security of patient information very seriously, and has implemented additional security features to help prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future. St. John's has also reported this matter to the FBI and will fully cooperate with any investigation relating to this incident.''
The notification letters sent this week include steps that potentially affected individuals can take to monitor and help protect their personal information. St. John's has established a toll-free call center to answer questions and address related concerns. The call center can be reached at 833-903-3643 on weekdays from 6 a.m to 6 p.m.
St. John's was founded in 1964 as a one-room volunteer pediatric clinic and has expanded to serve patients of all ages through a network of Federally Qualified Health Centers and school-based clinics in Central and South Los Angeles and Compton that provide medical, dental and mental health care.
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