The Burnaby RCMP and the Fraser Health Authority are investigating the theft of a laptop from Burnaby Hospital that contained the confidential information of patients in the pulmonary function lab.

According to David Plug, spokesperson for the health authority, the theft happened during a weekend in mid-August and 635 patients are affected.

"We sent out letters to them this week notifying them of what happened and we also notified the privacy commissioner," said Plug. "There's no indication any of the information on that computer has been disseminated."

Plug said some of the information on the laptop included patient names, who their doctors were and the test results.

"The RCMP has been notified and they are investigating," said Plug. "We take patient records security very seriously so we're taking this investigation very seriously."

Plug said the laptop may not have been password-protected.

"That's something we're looking into," he said. "We're also looking at our overall security, whether we need to have more office locks or more security upgrades."

Plug said the thief may have been caught on the hospital's video surveillance system.

For patients affected by the security breach, the health authority is offering them support and a complimentary one-year subscription to a credit monitoring service.