Three hospitals in McKinney, Texas — Methodist McKinney Hospital (MMH), Methodist Allen Surgical Center (MASC) and Methodist Craig Ranch Surgical Center (MCRSC) — were hacked.
In an official statement (via WFAA), Methodist McKinney Hospital officials said they first became aware of "unusual activity" in their computer systems on June 5, 2022.
"We promptly took steps to better ensure the integrity of the systems and begin an investigation with the assistance of a third-party company," officials added. "To date the investigation confirmed that an unauthorized actor accessed certain systems containing MMH, MASC and MCRSC data between May 20, 2022, and July 7, 2022, and copied certain files."
Exposed in the hack were names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, medical history information, medical diagnosis information, treatment information, medical record number and health insurance information.
The investigation into the hack is ongoing, and authorities are contacting individuals whose information might have been affected.
"We responded promptly when we became aware of this event by taking steps to secure our systems and commence a comprehensive investigation," the officials stated. "We are also reviewing and enhancing existing policies and procedures and implementing additional safeguards to further secure the information in our systems." They also reported the hack to federal law enforcement.
The hospital recommends checking account statements and free credit reports from Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, stating, "If you believe or have been advised that this event may have affected you, we encourage you to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud and continue to take the routine steps everyone should routinely be performing to guard against theft of information, such as by reviewing your account statements, explanation of benefit forms, and monitoring your free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors."
"If you have additional questions or concerns, please call our dedicated assistance line at (833) 423-1796 (toll-free), which is available from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time," added hospital officials. "Please know we take this event very seriously and sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern it may cause you."