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Laptops Containing Patient Information Stolen From Hospital In Alhambra

ALHAMBRA (CBSLA.com) — Health information for approximately 729,000 Southland patients has been compromised following the theft of two computers in the San Gabriel Valley.

KNX 1070's Ron Kilgore reports that while the theft occurred on the sixth floor at AHMC Healthcare Inc. in Alhambra on Oct. 12, hospital officials did not discover the two password-protected laptops were missing until two days later.

Laptops Containing Patient Information Stolen From Alhambra Hospital

"The laptops contained data from patients treated at the following AHMC hospitals: Garfield Medical Center, Monterey Park Hospital, Greater El Monte Community Hospital, Whittier Hospital Medical Center, San Gabriel Valley Medical Center and Anaheim Regional Medical Center," AHMC spokesman Gary Hopkins said.

The information on the computers included patient names, Medicare/insurance identification numbers, diagnosis/procedure codes, and insurance/patient payments.

Officials say only those patients on Medicare were at risk.

"At this time, AHMC Healthcare Inc. has no evidence that the information has been accessed or used in any manner," Hopkins added.

But attorney and privacy expert Mari Frank said Medicare patients should keep a watchful eye on credit and possible scams.

"They might say, 'Well, I have your Social Security number, we just need to find out your bank account number'," Frank said. "Don't buy into it at all, 'cause all sorts of scams come up from that as well."

Alhambra police are investigating the theft and have identified a suspect caught on surveillance as Christopher Lee Brown, aka Allen Markous. Police say Brown has a girlfriend who worked at the offices and many employees knew him.

Suspect In Laptop Theft From Alhambra Hospital Identified

"We do have a warrant in the system looking for this guy, but we haven't been able to find him yet," Sgt. Jerry Johnson said.

Patients with questions or concerns, or who wish to ascertain if their information was on the stolen laptops, should contact AHMC Healthcare Inc.'s Privacy Department at (855)977-6678 or via email at Privacy@AHMCHealth.com.

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