Patient medical records taken
A Zanesville prosthetics and orthotics center says some personal information about more than 1,100 patients was included in medical files stolen from a storage facility in December, a theft that also affected a local optometry office and credit union.
The storage unit, rented by Capital Prosthetic and Orthotic Center Inc., held files for patients seen between 2008 and 2012 at the center’s Zanesville office, according to a statement from the corporation. The files possibly contained names, addresses, birthdates, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, medical diagnoses and treatments, and insurance information for patients.
The break-in at the Brandywine Lock-N-Stock in Zanesville was reported Dec. 12 by the property manager. The manager told police that nine units were broken into overnight. Other units that were affected were rented by Dr. Jeff Rice with Vision
Source optometry in Zanesville, Genesis Credit Union, Genesis HealthCare and various residents.
Nine days after the break-in, on Dec. 21, Genoa Township police contacted Capital Prosthetic and Orthotic Center, Genesis Employees’ Credit Union and Vision Source to say they had recovered some of their files.
Township detective Mike Riehle said the theft remains under investigation, and wouldn’t say how the records were recovered or give more details about the case. He said police have several people they are considering as suspects in the case.
Officials with Capital Prosthetic and Orthotic Center, which also has locations in Columbus, Newark and Mansfield, believe all missing files have been recovered, said the center’s attorney, Cliff Mull. The center has notified all affected patients and “has no evidence that the information stolen had been used for fraudulent purposes,” according to the corporation’s statement. All patient files that were not located in the Zanesville office have been moved to a more secure storage facility.
After the break-in, the property manager at the Lock-N-Stock notified the affected lease holders, who were to advise police of what had been taken, according to police reports.
Capital Prosthetic and Orthotic Center was “in discussion with police” after the incident, Mull said. Police records, though, indicate that the center did not officially contact Zanesville authorities to report anything missing until after Genoa Township notified the center about the recovered records.
In a notice posted on its website, Vision Source optometry said it is attempting to reach all patients who might be affected. The website says police determined seven boxes of patient documents were taken, but it doesn’t indicate how many patients were affected.
Though Genesis HealthCare Systems was listed as a lease holder of one of the compromised storage units, a spokeswoman for the health-care provider said Friday that none of its medical records were stolen.
Riehle said Genoa Township police recovered files from the Genesis Credit Union, which serves Genesis HealthCare employees, but the files were not medical in nature. A message to the credit union was not returned on Friday.