Several community members have contacted Sturdy Memorial Hospital regarding marketing calls they have received at home or on their cell phones where their caller ID identifies Sturdy as the caller. These calls do not originate at Sturdy or any of its affiliates. The practice is called “spoofing” in which outside companies are able to have another entity displayed on the caller ID to entice the public to answer the call.

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the Truth in Caller ID Act, FCC rules prohibit any person or entity from transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongly obtain anything of value. Unfortunately, if no harm is intended or caused, the practice is not considered illegal.

The public is urged to not give out any personal information to unknown callers or purchase any product that they may be selling.  Phone calls from your doctor’s office do occur on occasion but if you are unsure if a call is legitimate the safest practice is to hang up and call the number you have for your physician’s office directly.

Sturdy Memorial Hospital and its Associated Medical Practices has never and will never sell, trade or lend patient personal information to any outside company for any reason. 

Sturdy Memorial Hospital is a full-service, independent, financially stable, not-for-profit acute care community hospital in Attleboro, Massachusetts.