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Arbisser said he also didn't know whether or not the computer belonged to former UIHC head John Colloton, the name that came up after Regent President Michael Gartner requested the incident be investigated at a Jan. 11 state Board of Regents' meeting.

But Arbisser did question why Colloton, a respected UIHC administrator and donor who once held the top post at the UIHC, retains an office on the first floor of the hospital unit that bears his name, the John W. Colloton Pavilion.

"He's not a current employee," Arbisser said. "I certainly hold him in high esteem as an administrator in his time, but I'm not sure what function he serves now that requires an office."

University Relations Director Steve Parrott, who said no patient data or other sensitive information was compromised in the incident, declined to name an employee or employees responsible for accessing unspecified data on the computer, which Parrott wouldn't confirm was Colloton's. Parrott also wouldn't indicate if any employees would be reprimanded.

Neither Colloton nor Gartner could be reached for comment.

The computer incident marks the third involving rogue activity at the UIHC that has come to the fore in recent weeks.

In late December, a pair of professional thieves reportedly worked as a team to pick people's pockets on UIHC grounds.

Additionally, a Coralville man was charged Jan. 2 with using a series of fictitious identities to obtain medical care. Between June 2005 and August 2006, Oly Sevan Hanson allegedly billed more than $17,000 to various pseudonyms for treatment rendered at the hospital's emergency room, according to a police complaint.

For the incident and events relating to his subsequent arrest, Hanson faces charges of theft by deception, a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines; preventing apprehension, an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by up to two years and $5,000; and three counts of tampering with records, also an aggravated misdemeanor.