Data Breach At Detroit Medical Center Affects Patients Seen Between March 2015, May 2016

DETROIT (WWJ) - A security breach at the Detroit Medical Center has compromised the personal information of roughly 1,500 patients.

On Thursday morning, the DMC announced that it sent letters to just over 1,500 patients alerting them to the breach. The affected patients were seen at a Detroit Medical Center Facility between March 2015 and May 2016.

Officials say the protected health information was distributed to unauthorized individuals not connected to the DMC by an employee with a contracted staffing agency.

"The DMC has since filed a complaint with law enforcement concerning the theft of records by the agency staff member and is cooperating fully with ongoing police investigation," a statement read.

Once aware of the breach, hospital administrators say they terminated their relationship with the agency employee, as well as the individual's access to all DMC computer systems. The also implemented changes to monitoring programs in order to prevent future breaches.

DMC has offered the affected patients credit monitoring through ALLClear ID Alert Network at no cost.