LEWISTON — Covenant Health Inc., which owns St. Mary’s Health System, is offering free credit monitoring to patients whose Social Security numbers might have been obtained when an outside entity gained access to its systems May 18, according to a news release Friday.

St. Mary’s computer system has been fully restored for roughly two weeks.

It took Covenant about a month to get its computer data system back online after it was shut down when unusual activity was detected May 26. Many patients had difficulty reaching providers, filling prescriptions, getting imaging done and canceling or making appointments during that time.

There were 7,864 patients impacted by Covenant’s data breach, according to information submitted to the Maine Attorney General’s office by Covenant. Of those patients, 4,659 were Maine residents.

What type of information was taken?

Information taken included patient names, addresses, date of birth, medical records, Social Security numbers, health insurance information, along with medical information such as diagnoses, dates of treatment, types of treatment, according to Covenant’s news release. How much information and what type of information taken varies by patient.

How will I know if my information was taken?

Individuals who might have had information taken during the breach will receive a letter from Covenant, according to the company. Covenant started mailing those letters Friday.

“If an individual believes their information was involved and have any questions about this incident, they can call 1-855-361-0344 toll free, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, excluding major U.S. holidays,” the release states.

Covenant is asking people whose information may have been taken during the cyberattack to review their health insurance statements and report to their health plan any services on those statements that they did not receive, the release states.

Information about the data breach can also be found on St. Mary’s website, where patients who no longer live at the address listed in St. Mary’s system and might not have received a letter mailed to them can learn more.

Could my information also have been taken if I’m not a regular St. Mary’s patient?

Anyone who receives treatment from St. Mary’s in any department, including the emergency department, is considered a patient, according to spokesperson Karen Sullivan.

Am I eligible for the free credit monitoring?

Patients whose Social Security numbers may have been taken are eligible for the free credit monitoring and identity theft protection, according to the Friday release.

How do I set up free credit monitoring?

Instructions on how to set up the free credit monitoring service are enclosed in the letter mailed to patients by Covenant. A copy of the letter can be found through the Office of the Maine Attorney General website, under Data Breach Notifications.

How long does it last?

Eligible patients will have access to identity and credit monitoring services, along with fraud consultation and identity theft restoration through Experian for 12 months, according to information Covenant submitted to the Maine Attorney General’s office.

Has Covenant Health made changes in response to the breach?

In its news release Friday, Covenant did not go into much detail about the changes it has implemented to prevent a future cyberattack.

“Covenant Health and its affiliated entities take this event and the security of the information they maintain seriously,” the release states. “Covenant Health has implemented additional administrative and technical safeguards to further secure information in its systems and help prevent something like this from happening again.”