MaineHealth is under scrutiny after hundreds of patients received letters offering condolences for their own deaths. The nonprofit healthcare system, which operates across Maine and New Hampshire, mistakenly sent 531 letters to living individuals, including details for next of kin on how to manage the “deceased’s” estate.
A spokesperson for MaineHealth confirmed the mix-up was caused by a glitch in the system that auto-generates letters for estate vendors.
“MaineHealth sincerely regrets this error and has sent apology letters to all patients who have been affected,” the spokesperson stated. “At no time were these patients listed as deceased in their medical records, and the issue has been fully resolved.”
This type of error has happened before. In 2021, Idaho’s Saint Alphonsus health system sent similar letters following a cyberattack. That issue was blamed on a mail merge problem during a security breach notification effort.
Saint Alphonsus clarified that all patients’ statuses were accurate in their electronic records and said the error didn’t originate from their system.
Healthcare experts say these types of mistakes, though rare, can damage trust and cause unnecessary emotional distress. MaineHealth says it’s taking steps to prevent it from happening again.
