HOUSTON (AP) - Officials at a Houston hospital said a stolen computer may contain medical records and Social Security numbers of hundreds of its patients. Christus St. Joseph Hospital has sent letters to about 16,000 patients, informing them of the possible security breach.
The machine was one of two computers taken from Gateway File Systems earlier this year. Gateway was converting paper medical records to digital files.
Hospital officials say their investigation and information gathered by Houston police indicate the burglars were interested only in the computers and not their data.
"We have no evidence to believe anyone's identity has been compromised because of this," said India Chumney Hancock, a hospital spokeswoman.
Hancock said the data that may have been on the computer represents less than 1% of all patient records at Christus St. Joseph.
Contributing: Information from the Houston Chronicle