Privacy Concern
10/20/05
Due to a recent potential breach in information security at Wilcox Memorial Hospital, patients were notified by mail and through the media that names, addresses, medical record numbers and social security numbers were contained on a computer data drive that is missing. The matter has been reported to the Kauai Police Department and staff at Wilcox continue to work to resolve this problem as well as prevent a recurrence. It is important to note that, at present, there are no signs that this information has been or will be used inappropriately.
If you have any questions, you may call our hospital Information Security and Privacy Officer at (808) 245-1250. At the present time, due to the heavy volume of calls, you may not be able to get through. We apologize for this inconvenience and are working to improve the situation. Please be patient and call again a few hours later. Or, you can send us an e-mail by simply writing to this email address: privacyofficer@wilcoxhealth.org.
At Wilcox Memorial Hospital, our staff is very aware of the importance of privacy and protecting the health information of patients. The staff continue to work to resolve this problem and implement additional measures to prevent a recurrence. On behalf of the staff and management of Wilcox Memorial Hospital, we extend our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience this situation may cause.
Under the circumstances and due to the prevalence of identity theft, we urge our patients to monitor their financial accounts for any signs of suspiscious activity.
In Hawaii, we are entitled to one free credit report every 12 months from each of the three credit bureaus. The easiest way to obtain these reports is to call the annual credit report service sponsored by the 3 leading credit report agencies. The number for this service is (877) 322-8228. This single source will allow you to gain access to the reports held by each agency. You will be given the option to choose to receive a single report from one agency or all three reports from each agency. Alternatively, you may obtain your reports online at https://www.annualcreditreport.com.
If you think you have been a victim of identify theft, you are urged to report it to the authorities and to contact the Social Security Administration and the credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your information.
The three credit bureaus are:
For additional resources, you can also visit the following reputable websites: