The cardiovascular medical practice, Heart Care Centers of Illinois (HCCI), announced on July 18, 2026, that certain patients had some of their personal and protected health information exposed in a phishing attack. HCCI said it launched an investigation into an unsuccessful phishing attempt and discovered a historical suspicious activity within an employee’s email account on January 15, 2026.
Third-party digital forensics experts were engaged to investigate the activity and confirmed that an unauthorized third party gained access to the account between August 22, 2024, and November 6, 2024. A data analytics firm was engaged to review the account. On June 11, 2026, the review was completed, confirming that the following types of information were present in the account: names, addresses, telephone/fax numbers, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers/state identification numbers, payment card information, financial account numbers, passport numbers, diagnosis/condition information, prescription information, treatment information, health insurance information, and provider information.
The affected individuals were notified on July 10, 2026, and complimentary credit monitoring and identity restoration services have been offered. HCCI has reviewed its existing policies and procedures and has taken steps to reduce the risk of similar incidents in the future. The incident is not yet shown on the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights breach portal, so it is unclear how many individuals have been affected.
Madera Community Hospital Madera Community Hospital in California has notified the California Attorney General about a security incident involving unauthorized access to its network between May 28 and May 29, 2025. The unauthorized access was identified on May 29, 2025, and action was immediately taken to secure its network and prevent further unauthorized access.
Third-party cybersecurity experts were engaged to investigate the incident. No evidence was found to indicate any removal of data; however, the hospital said, “based on subsequent developments, we have reason to believe that a third party acquired files from a portion of its network.” No further information was provided on what that evidence was.
The hospital did state that it has not found definitive proof that any data was removed, and none of the impacted data appears to have been published or otherwise shared. The data review was completed in April 2026, contact information was verified, and notification letters have now been mailed to the affected individuals. Data exposed in the incident includes names, birthdates, contact information, login credentials, government identification numbers (such as Social Security numbers), financial account information, and limited medical information and limited biometric information.
The affected individuals have been offered complementary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. The incident is not yet shown on the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights breach portal, so it is currently unclear how many individuals have potentially been affected. The post Heart Care Centers of Illinois Discovers Historic Phishing Attack Exposed Patient Data appeared first on The HIPAA Journal .
Originally published at hipaajournal.com
