ONTARIO COMPUTERS CONTAINING EMPLOYEE DATA STOLEN FROM HOSPITAL Simcoe Reformer, Simcoe, ON

Personnel records of hundreds stolen from hospital

NGH Computer contains sensitive data on 700-plus workers, retirees

Monte Sonnenberg SIMCOE REFORMER
Friday January 19, 2007

Hundreds of past and present employees of Norfolk General Hospital are scrambling to safeguard their finances following the theft of a computer last weekend.

A number of computers were stolen Saturday evening during a break-in at the hospital’s human resources department.

“One of these computers contained (the) name, the social insurance number and the bank account number for payroll deposit for all employees,” NGH CEO Bill Lewis said in a memo to staff this week. “Although this information is password protected, there is no guarantee it can not be accessed.”

Lewis said provincial police are investigating the break-in and theft.

As of yesterday, no information on the theft had been released by Norfolk OPP.

The computer stolen from NGH contains detailed financial and personal information for 500 current employees. It also contained detailed information on 230 retirees. Affected as well are employees and past employees of the Norfolk Hospital Nursing Home.

Affected individuals have been advised to ask their financial institution how the theft might impact the integrity of their finances. They have also been told to inform credit agencies Equifax and Trans Union that their social insurance numbers may have been disclosed along with their names and other personal information. By doing so, criminals attempting to secure credit cards under false pretences could be flagged when they apply.

“We’re reviewing the situation as we speak, as well as looking at the security of the organization,” Lewis said yesterday. “That’s being looked at.”

Lewis was among the employees whose information has gone missing.

Most businesses and institutions no longer maintain sensitive personnel records in portable form.

Norfolk County human resources, for example, stores this information in computer banks located in remote, high-security areas. These records are only accessible to authorized staff who know the passwords to the county network. This is also the practice at War Memorial Hospital in Dunnville and West Haldimand General Hospital in Hagersville.

Lewis said it is not helpful to second-guess NGH’s security arrangements in light of the theft.

“It was in a secure area, and the computer was password protected,” he said. “We’re the victims here. I’ve reacted as others did.”

There have been a rash of break-ins recently at hospitals in Norfolk and Haldimand counties.

Haldimand OPP reported yesterday that two men attempted a break-in at War Memorial Hospital in Dunnville Saturday afternoon. CEO Paul Mailloux said nothing was taken. And sometime between Christmas and New Year’s thieves made off with $2,000 in cash from a business office at West Haldimand General Hospital in Hagersville.

Mailloux and WHGH CEO David Bird said yesterday that Haldimand OPP have a good idea of who broke into their respective hospitals. A video security system at West Haldimand caught the $2,000theft on tape.

The first suspect is a male about six feet tall and weighing 180 pounds. He is described as having short dark hair and a dark moustache. The suspect was wearing a beige and red coat and a baseball hat.

The second suspect is a male about five feet, nine inches tall weighing about 170 pounds. He was wearing glasses, had short brown hair and was wearing a puffy black jacket.