June 16, 2011 (Brighton, CO) ?? Platte Valley Medical Center (PVMC) is undertaking an internal investigation into alleged identity theft by a former contract agency nurse who was engaged by PVMC from May 2010 to January 13, 2011. He was terminated by the hospital on that date for cause. That cause is unrelated to the alleged identity theft. PVMC’s current response follows the recent indictment of the former contract nurse by authorities on various counts of identify theft at five Denver area hospitals, including PVMC.
In addition to its thorough investigation, Platte Valley Medical Center is reaching out to patients whose information may have been compromised during this suspect’s brief time at the hospital. If any patients believe their private information may have been compromised, or if they have any questions about the security of their patient information, PVMC urges them to contact its Compliance Department directly at 303?498?3618 or gfanselau@pvmc.org.
Platte Valley Medical Center places the highest value on quality patient care and the protection of every patient’s private information. PVMC is fully cooperating with appropriate law enforcement agencies. We are outraged that an individual would violate the longstanding trust that Platte Valley Medical Center has established with its patients. We will take steps to identify the means by which this contract nurse appears to have obtained patient information and take decisive actions to ensure this does not happen in the future.
PVMC is contacting 76 patients to let them know their personal information was inappropriately accessed by this agency nurse. In addition, we are notifying all 142 patients he treated during his limited shifts at PVMC. The Medical Center has also engaged two IT professional consultants who are assisting in the investigation.
At this point, we only know of one patient who has been identified as having their personal information appropriated by the suspect. We are working directly with this patient and providing support to assist with this difficult situation.
More (on PVMC’s site)
In related news, 9News reports that Centura Health notified 123 of their patients.