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Friday, March 5, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.
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Kathy Silver
Chris Giunchigliani
The theft of six computer hard drives is the latest revelation of apparent wrongdoing within University Medical Center, although hospital officials say no sensitive information was compromised.
The hard drives were stolen between June 2008 and last November, according to a Feb. 26 memo that hospital CEO Kathy Silver sent to Clark County commissioners, who serve as the public facility’s board. Five of the drives were used mostly for network access and contained no sensitive information, the memo said. One drive contained images that lacked patient information and could only be viewed using proprietary software, it said.
UMC spokesman Rick Plummer said in an e-mail to the Sun that the hospital investigated each theft and reported them to Metro Police, which declined to investigate because the value of the hard drives was minimal.
“It’s very disturbing any time we find somebody is not acting within the policies and procedures of the hospital,” Plummer said.
Hospital officials also told the FBI about the hard drive thefts after the Sun reported in November that someone at UMC was leaking private patient information, allegedly to ambulance-chasing attorneys. The FBI is investigating that leak, but declined to include the hard drives, hospital officials said.
The thefts came to light when Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani mentioned them in a Feb. 24 letter she sent to Silver regarding another matter. Giunchigliani told the Sun she was satisfied with the hospital’s explanation and thought the thefts were handled properly.
The hard drive thefts are the latest of several alleged crimes within the cash-strapped hospital. Former CEO Lacy Thomas awaits trial for allegedly awarding millions of dollars in no-work contracts to his friends in Chicago. The alleged malfeasance may have cost the county $10 million, prosecutors claim.
In 2007 police arrested employees in the facilities department, including a supervisor. The charges involved stolen items and working on private projects on county time.
Sun Archives
- UMC: Patient info leaks likely date back to July (1-25-2010)
- UMC faces criticism from within medical field (12-23-2009)
- UMC suspends 6 staff members pending investigation(12-11-2009)
- At UMC, audits show privacy lapses are not new(11-24-2009)
- FBI looking at UMC records leak(11-21-2009)
- Hospital privacy leak could harm patients(11-20-2009)
Nice of them to tell us now! I don't believe a word of it! Anyone who has been to UMC now needs to join one of those credit check groups online and worry if their credit has been compromised. Why else would hard drives be stolen? For the medical records? Hardly!
WizardofID
YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN A KEYBOARD THAT DIDN'T HAVE THE CAP LOCKS STUCK ON IT WHEN YOU FILCHED YOUR UMC HARD DRIVE!
jUST SAYING!
UMC is slowly but surely bankrupting the County.
The County should sell the hospital to a private company who can properly run it and fire Kathy Silver. Kathy Silver is nothing more than an old rag who is fleecing taxpayers with her bloated salary.
Sun, will you be reporting on whether or not the new hire in Kathy Silver's office is her relative?
If Kathy Silver's brother-in-law was hired recently, he may be in a position to cover-up information if Kathy Silver is put on administrative leave.
don't these people keep there record lock up