Blount Memorial Hospital is contacting thousands of patients after someone stole a hospital laptop with patient information on it.
About 22,000 records had patients' last names, their addresses, birthdays and physician's names. Another 5,000 records had that same information, plus social security numbers.
The laptop is password-protected and does not have medical information on it. The hospital doesn't think the thief has accessed this information.
A hospital employee reported the laptop was stolen from their home on August 25.
The hospital has not found the laptop yet.
Patients with questions related to this incident can call the hospital at 865-273-4300 or toll-free at 1-866-284-4747 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.