NEW YORK, NY April 13, 2008 —A former employee at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center is due back in court next month, after he was charged this weekend with stealing and selling information on nearly 50,000 patients.

38-year-old Dwight McPherson of Brooklyn, who worked in the admissions department, allegedly exploited his access to the registration system to acquire lists of patient names, phone numbers and social security numbers over a two-year period. Prosecutors say McPherson confessed to a role in the identity-theft scheme when he was interrogated by agents on Friday. He said in 2006, he was approached by someone and offered money in exchange for the information.

Prosecutors say McPherson sold one batch of 1,000 records sometime this past December or January for $750. A second batch a short time later earned him $600, the agents say.