Data breach at Chicago’s Loretto Hospital affects about 500 people

CHICAGO - A data breach at Loretto Hospital on Chicago’s West Side earlier this year affected about 500 people.

What we know:

The hospital became aware of suspicious activity involving its computer network and discovered the breach had happened sometime in late January or early February, according to a notice on the hospital’s website.

The hospital’s network was accessed by an unknown actor, and files were copied.

In addition, between Feb. 2 and Feb. 3, certain data put into the hospital's electronic medical record system was not saved.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported the breach affected about 500 people.

What you can do:

Loretto Hospital advised patients to monitor their accounts for possible signs of identity theft. Suspicious activity should be reported to relevant parties, including an insurance company, healthcare provider, and financial institution.

Under U.S. law, a consumer is entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. 

Go to annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228 to order a free credit report.

Anyone with questions about the breach at Loretto can contact cyber.incident@lorettohospital.org or write to the hospital at 645 South Central Avenue, Chicago, IL 60644; Attn: Information System CIO.