IOLA, Kan. (AP) — A Georgia nursing home company has been banned from working in Kansas for 10 years and fined $100,000 for failing to protect patient and employee records, Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Friday.
An Allen County District Court judge approved the consent judgment against AltaCare Corporation, of Alpharetta, Georgia, earlier this week. The company managed the Pinecrest Nursing Home in Humboldt.
The judgment orders the company to destroy all Pinecrest records or modify them so personal information is not readable.
Schmidt sued AltaCare in 2017, alleging it violated Kansas data-protection laws by not having reasonable procedures to protect personal information. He also alleged the company failed to take reasonable steps to destroy records when they were no longer needed.
Pinecrest Nursing Home was broken into and vandalized several times it closed in 2011, when records with personal information were accessible in plain sight. Humboldt city officials notified AltaCare the records were not secure but AltaCare did not take action to protect the personal information, such as social security numbers, financial account numbers, credit or debit card numbers and medical records.
An additional fine of $125,000 is suspended on condition that the company comply with the judgment.