White Plains Hospital Notifies Regarding the Blackbaud Data Security Incident

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Sept. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- White Plains Hospital (the "Hospital") announced on September 30, 2020 that it is mailing letters to some patients alerting them of a data security incident that occurred at one of its vendors, Blackbaud, Inc. ("Blackbaud"). Blackbaud provides software and cloud-based data storage solutions for White Plains Hospital and numerous other non-profit organizations related to fund raising efforts.

Blackbaud notified the Hospital that an unauthorized individual gained access to the Blackbaud systems and acquired backup copies of customer databases, including the database White Plains Hospital uses for fundraising activities. According to Blackbaud, the incident occurred between February 7, 2020 and May 20, 2020.

The Privacy Office at White Plains Hospital learned of this incident on July 31, 2020. Since that time, the Hospital has been communicating with Blackbaud to better understand the nature and the extent of the incident and what was involved. Blackbaud has reported it has no reason to believe any information involved in the incident went beyond the unauthorized individual, was or will be misused, or will be disseminated or otherwise made available publicly.

Based on White Plains Hospital's review of the Blackbaud database involved in the incident, it contained some patient information, including names, addresses, dates of birth, patient identifiers, and potentially in some instances, treating physician names, visit dates, and/or reasons for seeking treatment.  

Importantly, Social Security numbers and financial account information were not stored in the Blackbaud database and were not involved in this incident. In addition, the incident did not involve any access to White Plains Hospital's medical record systems. 

White Plains Hospital has set up a dedicated call center to answer questions about this incident, at 833-752-0847, between 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except holidays. The Hospital recommends that patients review communications from their medical providers and contact the provider directly regarding any services or billing they do not recognize, or any requests for information.

Protecting privacy is one of White Plains Hospital's top priorities. To help prevent something like this from happening again, the Hospital is reviewing the way its information is stored with Blackbaud and evaluating Blackbaud's safeguards.

SOURCE White Plains Hospital