Notice of Data Incident

We are providing notice of a data incident involving Hendry Regional Medical Center that may have resulted in the unauthorized access to certain individual’s personal information. We take the privacy and protection of our patient’s information very seriously. This notice contains information about what happened, steps we have taken, and the resources available to those potentially affected.

What Happened:

On August 25, 2022, Hendry Regional Medical Center (“HRMC”) detected unusual activity on our network. Upon detecting this incident, HRMC moved quickly to secure our network environment and launched a thorough investigation with the help of independent IT security and forensic investigators to determine the scope and extent of the potential unauthorized access to our systems and any personal information.

The forensic investigation concluded on September 22, 2022. HRMC then immediately began a review of the potentially impacted information to prepare a list of impacted individuals. HRMC began notifying individuals on December 5, 2022. It continues to review the information and obtain addresses for the remaining impacted individuals.

What Information Was Potentially Impacted:

Although we have found no evidence of misuse of the information, it is possible that individuals’ name, mailing address, date of birth could have been exposed. Our investigation also determined that some individuals had their social security number, and/or protected health information impacted. Because not everyone had the same information impacted, it is important to check your individual letter.

What We Are Doing:

We take our data responsibilities and protection of our patient data very seriously, and we are sorry for any worry and inconvenience this news will cause. Upon discovery of the incident, HRMC moved quickly to investigate and respond to the incident, and assessed the security of its systems. Specifically, HRMC changed all of our passwords and updated our firewall and VPN. We have also reviewed and taken steps to enhance our policies and procedures relating to the security of our systems and servers, as well as our information life cycle management.

We would like to reassure you that we have taken all efforts possible to mitigate any further exposure of your personal information and related identity theft, and we are committed to supporting you.

What You Can Do:

HRMC encourages all individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review their account statements, and to monitor their credit reports for suspicious or unauthorized activity. Additionally, individuals should contact their financial institution and all major credit bureaus to inform them of the incident and then take whatever steps are recommended by these institutions, which may include placing of a fraud alert on the individual’s account. HRMC is also offering credit monitoring to some of the potentially impacted individuals. Please contact the call center below to confirm if you are eligible for credit monitoring.

Please see below the section titled Steps You Can Take to Help Protect Your Information to learn more about how to protect against potential misuse of your personal information.

For More Information:

Please know that the protection and security of your personal information is of our utmost priority. If you have any questions, please call Cyberscout at 1-833-510-0375, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST, excluding holidays.

Steps You Can Take to Help Protection Your Information

Credit Reports: You may obtain a copy of your credit report, free of charge, whether or not you suspect any unauthorized activity on your account. You may obtain a free copy of your credit report from each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. To order your free credit report, please visit www.annualcreditreport.com, or call toll free at 1-877-322-8228. You can also order your annual free credit report by mailing a completed Annual Credit Report Request Form (available at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0155-free-credit-reports) to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281.

Security Freeze: You also have the right to place a security freeze on your credit report. A security freeze is intended to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. To place a security freeze on your credit report, you need to make a request to each consumer reporting agency. You may make that request by certified mail, overnight mail, regular stamped mail, or by following the instructions found at the websites listed below. The following information must be included when requesting a security freeze (note that if you are requesting a credit report for your spouse or a minor under the age of 16, this information must be provided for him/her as well): (1) full name, with middle initial and any suffixes; (2) Social Security number; (3) date of birth; (4) current address and any previous addresses for the past five years; and (5) any applicable incident report or complaint with a law enforcement agency or the Registry of Motor Vehicles. The request must also include a copy of a government-issued identification card and a copy of a recent utility bill or bank or insurance statement. It is essential that each copy be legible, display your name and current mailing address, and the date of issue. As of September 21, 2018, it is free to place, lift, or remove a security freeze. You may also place a security freeze for children under the age of 16. You may obtain a free security freeze by contacting any one or more of the following national consumer reporting agencies:

Equifax Security Freeze P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348 1-800-349-9960 www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit

Experian Security Freeze P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com/freeze/center.html

TransUnion Security Freeze P.O. Box 160 Woodlyn, PA 19094 1-888-909-8872 www.transunion.com/credit-freeze

Fraud Alerts: You can place fraud alerts with the three credit bureaus by phone and online with:

●Equifax (https://assets.equifax.com/assets/personal/Fraud_Alert_Request_Form.pdf);
●TransUnion (https://www.transunion.com/fraud-alerts); or
●Experian (https://www.experian.com/fraud/center.html).

A fraud alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures, including contacting you, before they open any
new accounts or change your existing accounts. For that reason, placing a fraud alert can protect you, but
also may delay you when you seek to obtain credit. As of September 21, 2018, initial fraud alerts last for
one year. Victims of identity theft can also get an extended fraud alert for seven years. The phone numbers
for all three credit bureaus are at the bottom of this page.

Monitoring: You should always remain vigilant and monitor your accounts for suspicious or unusual activity.

File Police Report: You have the right to file or obtain a police report if you experience identity fraud. Please note that in order to file a crime report or incident report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide proof that you have been a victim. A police report is often required to dispute fraudulent items. You can generally report suspected incidents of identity theft to local law enforcement or to the Attorney General.

FTC and Attorneys General: You can further educate yourself regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes, and the steps you can take to protect yourself, by contacting the consumer reporting agencies, the Federal Trade Commission, or your state Attorney General.

The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580,
www.identitytheft.gov, 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338), TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. You can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. You have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some proof that you have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement. This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement.

For Maryland residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202, 1-888-743-0023, and www.oag.state.md.us.

For New Mexico residents, you have rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as the right to be told if information in your credit file has been used against you, the right to know what is in your credit file, the right to ask for your credit score, and the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. Further, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information; consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information; access to your file is limited; you must give your consent for credit reports to be provided to employers; you may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report; and you may seek damages from violators. You may have additional rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act not summarized here. Identity theft victims and active-duty military personnel have specific additional rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We encourage you to review your rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act by visiting www.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf or by writing Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center,
Raleigh, NC 27699-9001, 1-877-566-7226 or 1-919-716-6400, and www.ncdoj.gov.

For New York residents, the Attorney General may be contacted at Office of the Attorney General, The Capitol, Albany, NY 12224-0341, 1-800-771-7755, and https://ag.ny.gov/.

For Rhode Island residents, the Rhode Island Attorney General can be reached at 150 South Main Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, www.riag.ri.gov, and 1-401-274-4400. Under Rhode Island law, you have the right to obtain any police report filed in regard to this incident.