SunBridge Healthcare Corporation has experienced another theft involving protected health information.
On August 25, the company posted a press release to its site indicating that a BlackBerry containing unencrypted information about current and former residents and patients from eight Georgia nursing and rehabilitation centers was stolen from an employee’s desk on June 26, 2010. The theft was reported to the local law enforcement authorities and the company’s privacy officer, as well as HHS.
Information on the stolen device reportedly included current and former residents’ names, dates of birth, medical record numbers, dates of service and clinical data. No social security numbers, credit card data or other financial information was stored on the device.
According to its statement, the SunBridge-affiliated centers involved are the Renaissance, Fox Glove Court, Riverdale Place, Etowah Landing, Cartersville Heights, Folkston Park, Fountain City and Hazelhurst Court Care and Rehabilitation centers.
The majority of affected individuals were residents of these centers between December 2009 and June 2010. All told, 1,000 patients were affected.
The theft occurred less than two months after a laptop containing unencrypted data on 3,830 patients was stolen. In the first incident on May 11, the company did not indicate whether the theft occurred on their premises or off-premises.