August 10, 2021

We are posting this notice as part of Cook County Health’s (CCH) commitment to patient privacy.

Around April 28, 2021, Cook County Health learned that a former staff member may have contacted patients to request money for personal reasons. In doing so, this former staff member may have used information called Protected Health Information (PHI), including name, date of birth, phone number, address, and some clinical information, such as appointment dates.

Upon learning of these incidents, in addition to other performance issues, CCH terminated the staff member from employment. CCH also asked this individual to cease and desist all communications with patients, including further requests for money.

CCH is taking every effort to ensure this does not happen again. These efforts, called corrective actions, include:

 Reviewing the circumstances to help us prevent a similar occurrence in the future. 
 Discussing the incident with the leadership of the impacted department and reinforcing CCH policies to safeguard PHI.
 Putting in place a plan to ensure everyone is aware of our commitment to our patients’ privacy.

If you were impacted by this incident, provided money in any amount to a CCH employee, or continue to receive communications from this individual, we ask that you contact the Department of Patient Relations at 312-864-0185 to report it. Patient Relations will work to provide refunds for patients who are able to show proof of payment to the former employee.

Affected patients seeking more information may also contact the Office of Corporate Compliance at 1-877-476-1873 (8:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday) or email privacy@cookcountyhhs.org.

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