Palomar Health Investigating Whether ‘Cyber Incident’ Exposed Patient Data

Palomar Health Medical Group said Thursday that its operations have been fully restored after a “cyber incident” two months ago.

Group officials said they worked alongside third-party cybersecurity experts to correct the issue and successfully recover data. Currently, all systems across Palomar locations have been “successfully restored” they said in a news release. Patients are able to schedule appointments by calling their doctor’s office.

“We value the trust and confidence our community has in our care and have taken every possible step to secure our systems and data,” said Russ Riehl, Interim president of Palomar Health Medical Group.

During an investigation, it was determined that, although there was unauthorized access to some data, the group acted promptly and took measures to secure and protect patients.

Over the past two months, officials worked with its cybersecurity teams “around the clock” to recover and secure affected data. They said these efforts “ensured that affected data was recovered and removed from unauthorized locations.”

The group will continue its “detailed review” of the affected data to identify whether any individuals had personal or health information impacted by the incident.

If so, officials said, they will communicate directly with the affected individuals as soon as more information is available.

Palomar Health Medical Group serves more than 200,000 patients for primary and specialty care. The group has 20 locations in 12 cities and neighborhoods throughout North County and southern Riverside County.