JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Police are investigating a computer crime with potentially serious implications for 1,000 patients at a local hospital after a computer hard drive was stolen.

A woman, who did not want to be identified, said the University of Florida at Shands in Jacksonville has exposed her and hundreds of others to fraud and identity theft.

"I was terrified. I really was terrified. The only thing I could think of was contact the credit bureau, and check my bank account and hope and pray for the best," she said.

Her fear stems from a theft at the hospital, where the hard drive was stolen. The computer was used by medical residents and contained the medical and personal history of 956 patients.

Channel 4 obtained a police report, which states the computer was stolen May 30. However, police were not told about the incident until June 6 -- seven days after the alleged theft.

According to the police report, a hard drive was missing and later determined to be stolen. No report was made initially, however, the report goes on to say, it was learned there was patient information and then police response was requested.

Police said there was no way to investigate because there was such a delay in reporting the incident.

Fourteen days after the alleged theft, UF sent a letter to all patients involved, telling them what happened.

The letter states the hard drive contained patient names, medical record numbers, dates of birth and medical information, but that it didn't have Social Security numbers.

The last part is what the concerned woman said alarmed her most because of a phone call her husband received shortly after the robbery and before any notice was sent.

"This particular day, he picked up the phone and all he can remember is they said they were Shands-Jacksonville and they asked him to punch in his Social Security number, and he did -- although he knew better," she said. "I should have known sooner, and I could have taken more precautions. What if someone has my identity and has gone to a foreign country?"

A spokesman for UF said in a statement they have an additional security measure in place to prevent this from happening again and regret the inconvenience.