ERIE, Pa. – The Veterans Health Administration is sending letters to 2,380 veterans notifying them of the potential disclosure of limited information that may have been sent to another VA patient.

The Veteran Integrated Services Network (VISN) 4 had 264 letters mailed and VISN 5 had 2,116 letters mailed. No social security numbers or other identifying information were divulged in the mix-up, caused when Xerox Corp., under contract to VA, experienced a printing error in November 2023.

The appointment notification postcards were generated by an application that converts information in a patient’s electronic health record to an easy-to read format, then prints, seals, and mails the postcards.

On Nov. 9, the application printed postcards addressed to patients that contained appointment scheduling and reminders for other patients. This was due to a misalignment, or improper match, of the content with the name and address of the appointment postcard recipient. This error was not discovered until Tuesday, November 14, 2023.

Corrected appointment postcards were mailed to all affected patients on Nov. 16.

Veterans who have questions or concerns about whether their personal information may have been involved and who receive health care at the Wilmington, Altoona, Coatesville, Erie, or Pittsburgh medical centers within VISN 4, can call 1-855-429-7502 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.