Veterans In Partnership (VISN 11)

Report ID: SPE000000080387, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Reported Entity: VISN 11 Battle Creek, MI

Issue:

On 09/20/12, An employee had a locking bag with confidential documents fly out of her vehicle trunk. After dropping off labs at the Grand Rapids CBOC, she placed the locking bag into her trunk and closed the trunk. As she was turning onto Monroe Street by the clinic, a man in a car pulled up and told her that her trunk was not latched and that something had fallen out. She immediately back tracked and could not locate any items on the ground. She inspected her trunk and noted the only item missing was a double pocket bag with one side locked and containing the information she required for her visits for the next week. The information may have contained birthdates and social security numbers because she has since learned the Muskegon CBOC printer does not allow the option of printing work copies. That is where she had printed her documents earlier in the day. The other missing items on the non-locker side was her personal notebook in which she has some personal checking information and possibly one document with Veteran information on it. She contacted the State Home for Veterans to identify if someone in there had seen the bag and brought it in. She left her contact information in case someone did bring it in. She then returned to the outpatient clinic to see if it had been brought there. Update: 09/21/12: The employee who was notified that a bag had flown out of her vehicle was approximately two miles from where she had put the locked bag in her trunk. The employee returned to the VA and retraced her path and was not able to recover the bag. She inquired at the facility to see if someone had turned in the bag. The employee returned today and again retraced her steps on foot, both sides of the road and looked inside trash cans, and still did not recover the bag. VA police have been notified and local police were being notified to see if someone turned them in. The outside of the bag contained no identifying information. There are 9 Veterans effected by this and it is believed that there are about 20 to 25 pages total in the bag. Therefore 9 Veterans will receive a letter offering credit protection services.

Outcome:

Bag has not been recovered, Credit monitoring letters have been sent to the Veterans involved. It has been requested that all bags are labeled with contact information for the VA Medical Center.