Someone hacked into the electronic medical records of patients of the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital and Anne Klein Forensic Center in June and obtained “limited” private information held by an outside company, the state Department of Health announced late Friday.
A health department spokeswoman declined to say how many patient records had been compromised. Affected patients will receive a letter alterting them to the breach, according to the state’s announcement. People who were a patient or continue to be a patient at either state facility, located in Mercer County, may contact a confidential call center to determine if they were among those affected.
The call center can be reached at 1-800- 405-6102 from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, Monday through Friday, according to the announcement.
“We regret this incident occurred and are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused,” the statement said.
The state declined to identify the vendor that maintained the records for medical translation and dictation purposes. The company notified the state about the breach on June 30, according to the announcement. The state launched an investigation into the matter, the statement said.
“Due to security and privacy concerns, no additional information is available,” Health Department spokeswoman Nancy Kearney said,.
“As this investigation is ongoing, the hospitals provided notification to affected individuals at the earliest opportunity,” Kearney added.
The Health Department operates the two psychiatric hospitals located in Trenton and Ewing. Ann Klein is a secure facility for people with criminal charges or who have been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
—
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.
