Sparks, Summit Clinics Not Affected By Community Health Systems Breach

Publicly traded hospital operator Community Health Systems Inc. of Franklin, Tennessee, announced in an SEC filing Monday that the personal data of about 4.5 million people was stolen by hackers from its computer network earlier this year.

CHS operates 206 hospitals in 29 states, including Siloam Springs Regional Hospital, Sparks Health System in Fort Smith and its sister facility, Summit Medical Center in Van Buren.

Northwest Health System of Springdale — comprised of medical centers in Bentonville, Springdale, Siloam Springs and Johnson — is also owned by CHS.

Sparks and Summit spokeswoman Donna Bragg said none of the Sparks or Summit clinics were affected by the data breach reported by CHS.

Northwest Health System officials did confirm, however, in a news release that some of its data was involved in the cyber attack.

“Limited personal identification data belonging to some patients who were seen at physician practices and clinics affiliated with Northwest Health System over the past five years was transferred out of our organization in a criminal cyber attack by a foreign-based intruder,” the release said. “The transferred information did not include any medical information or credit card information, but it did include names, addresses, birthdates, telephone numbers and social security numbers.”

NHS spokeswoman Pat Driscoll said all affected patients are being notified by letter and offered free identity theft protection.

CHS said the data, considered protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, included patient names, addresses, birth dates, telephone numbers and Social Security numbers. It did not include patient credit card or medical information, according to the filing.

The company said that prior to filing the regulatory document, it had eradicated the malware from its systems and finalized the implementation of remediation efforts. It is notifying patients and regulatory agencies as required by law, it said.

CHS also said it is insured against such losses and does not expect a material adverse effect on financial results.