Winter Haven Hospital breach caused by employee’s accidental email attachment

Related video: TGH suffers cyber attack in July 2023, with data of up to 1.2 million possibly compromised

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (WFLA) — A breach at Winter Haven Hospital was caused by an accidental email attachment sent by an employee, according to their Notice of Privacy Incident.

On March 15, the hospital said one of its employees was emailing a patient when they mistakenly attached a cardiac rehabilitation department file that included other patients’ information.

Couple who appeared on ‘Property Brothers’ sues production company, claims they did poor job

Included in that file were the patients’ names, birthdays, procedures, and service dates, with some also including their phone numbers and email addresses.

The notice said once the employee noticed their mistake, they contacted the recipient who said the file would be deleted.

“We have taken corrective actions to help prevent a re-occurrence of this type of incident, which included adding additional access security to the file,” the hospital said.

You may get an extra Social Security payment this month: Here’s why

On Wednesday, Winter Haven Hospital began mailing letters to the affected patients.

Anyone who believes they could be involved in this breach can contact the hospital at 1-855-466-6677 during the hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

Winter Haven Hospital also included steps to take for those experiencing Identity Theft Protection, which can be viewed here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.