A laptop computer with files including personal health information and the Social Security numbers of approximately 8,000 people, many of whom were Compass Health clients, was stolen in late June, officials of the nonprofit mental health agency said Thursday.
So far, there have been no problems with identify theft or any indications that the information was misused in any other way, said Rochelle Clogston, chief administrative officer for Compass Health.
"We're extremely sorry that this has happened," she said. "We've taken a number of steps to safeguard client information."
The laptop was stolen June 28 from a spot near an employee's home. Clogston did not know the exact location of the laptop when it was stolen. The theft was reported to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.
Notification letters were sent in mid-July to about 7,000 people whose information could have been included in the computer files.
Approximately 2,000 people have not yet been contacted. About 1,000 letters were returned for reasons such as the person no longer lived at the address listed in their file. For the remaining 1,000 people, Compass did not have enough contact information to send a letter, she said.
Compass Health waited to make a public disclosure of the theft because it wanted to first notify clients who may have been affected, she said. The organization also did not want to unnecessarily worry clients whose files were not on the computer. Compass provides mental health services to more than 14,000 patients.
Compass Health has set up a toll-free call center to answer questions and help people whose files may have been on the laptop. Through the middle of August, the latest numbers available, the help center had received 163 calls, Clogston said.
The computer files date back to Oct. 1 and include initial contact details such as billing information on patients. Detailed clinical information was not included, she said.
An estimated 75 percent of the files involved Compass clients from Snohomish, Skagit, San Juan and Island counties. The rest were files of people associated with other area nonprofits, including Volunteers of America; Bridgeways, which also provides mental health services; SeaMar, which runs area health care clinics; and Catholic Community Services.
The computer also includes files from two Whatcom County groups, Lake Whatcom Residential and Treatment Center and Whatcom Counseling and Psychiatric Clinic.
The files were password protected but not encrypted, Clogston said.
Public announcement of the stolen laptop is being made now in the hope that word will reach clients they've been unable to contact, she said.