Ascension, one of the largest private healthcare systems in the United States, is notifying patients that their personal and health information was stolen in a December 2024 data theft attack, which affected a former business partner.
The health network operates 142 hospitals nationwide, has over 142,000 employees, and has reported a total revenue of $28.3 billion in 2023.
Depending on the impacted patient, the attackers gained access to a combination of personal information, including name, address, phone number(s), email address, date of birth, race, gender, and Social Security numbers (SSNs).
They could also access personal health information related to inpatient visits, including the physician’s name, admission and discharge dates, diagnosis and billing codes, medical record number, and insurance company name.
Even though the breach notifications didn’t include any information regarding the total number of patients who had their data exposed in this breach, the healthcare system said in an April 28 filing with Massachusetts’ Office of the Attorney General that 96 MA residents were affected and had their medical records and SSNs exposed in the incident.