BLACKFOOT — Bingham Memorial Hospital officials have voluntarily submitted some recorded files to the Idaho Attorney General’s office, which is investigating two past incidents at the hospital.

Holland & Hart attorney Erik Stidham, who represents BMH, said the information was discovered by a hospital employee who was doing work unrelated to the investigation.

“They are sound files that we understand reflect recordings that were made for quality assurance purposes,” he said.

The employee notified hospital officials about the discovery, and they then asked Stidham’s office to pass the files onto the Attorney General. The information was encrypted when it was sent — a standard procedure to ensure that the information isn’t altered before it reaches its destination — but authorities have already agreed on a decryption process.

“The new materials were given to the Attorney General's office as part of the hospital's ongoing commitment to transparency, internal review and cooperation with proper authorities,” according to a Bingham Memorial Hospital news release. “Bingham Memorial continues to cooperate fully with the Attorney General's office in its ongoing investigation.”

The AG’s office started investigating the hospital earlier this year at the request of Bingham County Prosecutor J. Scott Andrew. It’s looking into incidents involving the recording of telephone calls made to a doctor’s office inside BMH in July of 2010, as well as activities completed by independent business Cyberdine, which contracted to provide computer services at the hospital in 2010. The former business was founded by Bingham Memorial’s IT director and a doctor on staff.

Bob Cooper, spokesman for the Attorney General’s office, said the investigation is ongoing, but did not release any additional details.