On February 3, 2023, Southeast Colorado Hospital District (“SECHD”) filed notice of a data breach with the Attorney General of Montana after learning that an employee’s email account containing confidential patient information became compromised. Based on the company’s official filing, the incident resulted in an unauthorized party gaining access to consumers’ names, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, dates of birth, medical treatment or diagnosis information, and health insurance information. After confirming that consumer data was leaked, SECHD began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals who were impacted by the recent data security incident.

If you are a current or former patient of the Southeast Colorado Hospital District, the recent data breach is certainly a reason to be concerned. As we’ve discussed in previous posts, healthcare data breaches like this one put sensitive patient information in the hands of cybercriminals looking to use patient information to commit identity theft and other frauds. Nevertheless, there are steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of fraud. And depending on the outcome of the SECHD data breach investigation, affected patients may be able to recover financial compensation through a data breach lawsuit.

What We Know So Far About the Southeast Colorado Hospital District Breach

The available information regarding the Southeast Colorado Hospital District breach comes from the company’s filing with the Attorney General of Montana. According to this source, as well as a notice posted on the SECHD website, on December 6, 2022, SECHD identified suspicious activity within an employee’s email account. After learning about the issue, SECHD launched an investigation to determine what, if any, patient data was leaked as a result.

The SECHD investigation confirmed that an unauthorized party was able to access certain files contained on the organization’s network. It was subsequently determined that some of these files contained sensitive patient data.

Upon discovering that confidential patient data was made available to an unauthorized party, Southeast Colorado Hospital District began to review the affected files to determine what information was compromised and which consumers were impacted. While the breached information varies depending on the individual, it may include your name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, date of birth, medical treatment or diagnosis information, and health insurance information.

On February 3, 2023, Southeast Colorado Hospital District sent out data breach letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident.

More Information About Southeast Colorado Hospital District

Founded in 1969, Southeast Colorado Hospital District is a regional hospital in Springfield, Colorado. The hospital is a 23-bed acute-care facility. Southeast Colorado Hospital District also operates a 40-bed long-term-care facility, a home-health agency that also provides hospice care, a 16-bed Alzheimer's care unit, and an outpatient medical clinic. Southeast Colorado Hospital District employs more than 216 people and generates approximately $25 million in annual revenue.