NOTICE OF SECURITY INCIDENT – MEADOWS BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE

Meadows Behavioral Healthcare (“Meadows”) became aware of suspicious activity related to certain employee email accounts. With the assistance of third-party computer forensic specialists, we took immediate steps to contain the incident and to investigate the nature and scope of the incident. Meadows is issuing this notice to provide additional details regarding what is known about the incident, the steps we are taking in response, and steps potentially affected individuals can take, if deemed appropriate.

What Happened? On February 7, 2022, Meadows Behavioral Healthcare (“Meadows”) detected suspicious activity within its computer environment (the “Incident”).  We immediately launched an investigation with the assistance of third-party specialists to determine the nature and scope of the activity. This investigation determined that there was unauthorized access to certain employee email accounts from February 2, 2022, and February 7, 2022. At this time, there is no evidence that any employee or patient information was misused. Out of an abundance of caution, Meadows is providing this notice to any patients and employees whose information was within the affected files. Moreover, our internal efforts to identify contact information to directly notify those potentially affected are ongoing.

What Information Was Involved? The information that may have been affected by this incident could have included one or more of the following: an individuals’ name; medical history; treatment or diagnosis information; health information; health insurance information, including policy and/or subscriber information; insurance application and/or claims information; and for a smaller number of individuals, it may have included their Social Security number. Importantly, to date, we have no evidence of any misuse of any data as a result of this incident.

What Are We Doing? Meadows takes the confidentiality, privacy, and security of information in our care seriously.  Upon discovery, we immediately reset user passwords, implemented additional data security protocols and commenced an investigation to confirm the nature and scope of the incident. We will continue to evaluate and implement additional safeguards. We are also reporting this incident to relevant state and federal regulators. Further, once we complete the review of the affected data, we will be notifying potentially impacted individuals so that they may take further steps to help protect their information, should they feel it is appropriate to do so.

What Can Affected Individuals Do? While we have no evidence of identity theft or fraud occurring as a result of this incident, we encourage potentially impacted individuals to review the below, Steps You Can Take to Help Protect Your Information.

For More Information. We understand you may have additional questions concerning this incident. Individuals can direct questions to Meadows Compliance, Monday through Friday at 877-382-2317.

Steps You Can Take to Help Protect Your Information

Monitor Your Accounts

Under U.S. law, a consumer is entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also directly contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below to request a free copy of your credit report.

Consumers have the right to place an initial or extended “fraud alert” on a credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer’s credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer’s credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer’s identity before extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any one of the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below.

As an alternative to a fraud alert, consumers have the right to place a “credit freeze” on a credit report, which will prohibit a credit bureau from releasing information in the credit report without the consumer’s express authorization. The credit freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a credit freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, you cannot be charged to place or lift a credit freeze on your credit report. To request a security freeze, you will need to provide the following information:

1. Full name (including middle initial as well as Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.);
2. Social Security number;
3. Date of birth;
4. Addresses for the prior two to five years;
5. Proof of current address, such as a current utility bill or telephone bill;
6. A legible photocopy of a government-issued identification card (state driver’s license or ID card, etc.); and
7. A copy of either the police report, investigative report, or complaint to a law enforcement agency concerning identity theft if you are a victim of identity theft.

Should you wish to place a credit freeze, please contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below:

Additional Information

You may further educate yourself regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps you can take to protect your personal information by contacting the consumer reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission, or your state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. You can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. You have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some proof that you have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement and your state Attorney General. This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement.

For District of Columbia residents, the District of Columbia Attorney General may be contacted at: 400 6th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001; 202-727-3400; and [email protected].

For Maryland residents, the Maryland Attorney General may be contacted at: 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; 1-410-528-8662 or 1-888-743-0023; and www.oag.state.md.us.

For New Mexico residents, you have rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as the right to be told if information in your credit file has been used against you, the right to know what is in your credit file, the right to ask for your credit score, and the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information.  Further, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer reporting bureaus must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information; consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information; access to your file is limited; you must give your consent for credit reports to be provided to employers; you may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report; and you may seek damages from violator.  You may have additional rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act not summarized here.  Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have specific additional rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  We encourage you to review your rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act by visiting www.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf, or by writing Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

For New York residents, the New York Attorney General may be contacted at: Office of the Attorney General, The Capitol, Albany, NY 12224-0341; 1-800-771-7755; or https://ag.ny.gov/.

For North Carolina residents, the North Carolina Attorney General may be contacted at: 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; 1-877-566-7226 or 1-919-716-6000; and www.ncdoj.gov.

For Rhode Island residents, the Rhode Island Attorney General may be reached at: 150 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903; www.riag.ri.gov; and 1-401-274-4400.  Under Rhode Island law, you have the right to obtain any police report filed in regard to this incident.  There number of Rhode Island residents impacted by this incident has not yet been confirmed.