Nearly 10 years of personal hospital records could be at risk after it was discovered that a former employee sold a hard drive containing the information online.

The incident could affect patients at Chilton Medical Center in Pequannock who visited the hospital from May 1, 2008 through Oct. 15, 2017.

The hard drive contained names, dates of birth, addresses and medical record numbers. Hospital officials says that no Social Security numbers, financial information or medical records were compromised.

Hospital directors issued a statement on Chilton’s webpage saying that they are committed to the privacy and security of patient information. They said that the former employee’s actions are in direct violation of hospital policy.

The Pequannock Police Department is investigating the incident.

"Any time there is a compromise of information…the number one concern we have in law enforcement is identity theft,” says Capt. Christopher Depuyt.

Depuyt says that he can’t comment on this investigation specifically but says that identify theft scams pop up all the time. 

“Any bit of information is a potential for a problem for someone regarding identify theft,” he says. “But then start compounding it – putting one, two, three pieces of information together, and a good scammer…will just weave that together and before you know it someone is bilked out of…money.”

The hospital sent out letters to patients who could be affected by the breach. A hotline was also set up for patients who were concerned -- 1-855-590-2129.