Merit Health notifies patients of security breach Merit Health system based in Jackson , Miss. , only learned of the breach after local law enforcement notified them that one of their employees at Merit Health Northwest Mississippi was under investigation for identity theft , according to an online statement . The employee was allegedly swiping patient files for more than a year undetected , from February 2013 through June 2015 . Law enforcement notified the hospital July 1 , 2015 . The employee , who was eventually suspended and barred access to the building and IT systems , swiped records containing patient names , Social Security numbers , medical diagnoses data , health plan data and also payment information . ;