Just weeks after thousands were warned of their potential exposure to hepatitis C virus (HCV) at a hospital in Utah, state health officials say they have expanded their investigation to another area facility, bringing the total number of patients recently put at risk for the virus to almost 7,200, KSL.com reports.

The initial warning, released earlier this month, stated that close to 5,000 emergency room patients may have been exposed to HCV at McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden, Utah, via an HCV-positive health care worker. Now, nearby Davis Hospital and Medical Center has been asked to send out letters to 2,369 more patients informing them they might also be at risk.

At the center of the investigation is a local nurse who was recently fired from McKay Dee for stealing injection opioid painkillers while on the job. The Utah Department of Health expanded the case after finding out that the nurse previously worked at Davis Hospital and had been found stealing intravenous Benadryl while employed there.

Davis Hospital sent out warning letters to patients who visited the emergency room between June 2011 and April 2013, and is also offering free hep C testing to all notified patients. So far, one man was found to have contracted the same rare strain of HCV from the nurse in question.