Board Chair Karma Israelsen and CEO Jamal Edwards sent out a jointly signed statement Feb. 19 saying that they had identified a "potential breach" in the HBHC donor database which includes personal phone numbers and e-mail addresses. The statement said there was no reason to "believe that credit card information has been compromised" or "that confidential patient records were inappropriately accessed."

Asked to elaborate on the situation, Edwards said they were looking into the matter, and had "some idea which people were responsible" and "would take swift and appropriate action."

This news came a day after a report that Dr. Rob Garofalo had been put on administrative leave. He was chief research officer at Howard Brown, medical director of adolescent HIV services at Children's Memorial Hospital and assistant professor of pediatrics and preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Edwards confirmed this. Asked for details on why, Edwards first said it was a "personnel matter." Edwards also confirmed that Bryant Dunbar, director of development, has resigned.

When asked if the database breach had anything to do with Garofalo and Dunbar, Edwards said, "Not that I'm aware of." He went on to say, "Howard Brown is [still] in transition. … We have made a substantial amount of change in the first six months and now we're focusing on a new direction … a focus on the stability of Howard Brown. As we continue to change and improve, there will be changes where people may not fit within that new direction. … Everybody should expect more change. There's no way we can deliver a new Howard Brown where everything stays the same. … Any staff that's not supportive of that will not continue to work at Howard Brown."

Garofalo, who is currently the board president of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, is also known for his research and grants that support LGBT health issues, including the Transgender Research Youth Project, described on the HBHC site as "a study examining coding and risk among male-to-female transgender youth. His being put on administrative leave is bound to have some effect on the research studies under him. Edwards confirmed that there are staff at Howard Brown who participate in those studies but not the exact number. [WCT has been told by sources there are as many as 30.]

Edwards could not specify how long the leave would last but said, "There were some concerns raised by staff and patients that we are looking into and as soon as we are finished looking into those, we will take whatever action is appropriate." He said it would not stop any of the research going on: "We do not anticipate any disruption at this time." In an e-mail, Edwards also confirmed that Garofalo is employed by Children's Memorial Hospital "and they are responsible for his compensation status. His leave from HBHC suspends his participation in HBHC programs and services."

Beau Gratzer, vice president and chief operating officer, who has been with HBHC since 2003, was rumored to have been fired. Gratzer, in an interview, denied that, saying he would be "transitioning out of his role as of June 30 to focus on completing my Ph.D." (Gratzer is completing his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.) According to Gratzer, he anticipated keeping a chief investigative role at HBHC "or in some capacity in the research department." He said that Edwards and he discussed a five-month process "to make sure the transition is smooth and that we're all on the same page."