By HFT Staff

Ascension has started notifying 148,606 patients about a security breach at the third-party vendor, Vertex, which was used to manage its legacy websites, two of which – Seton.net and DellChildren’s.net – were breached on March 1 and 2, 2023. 

Vertex engaged a forensic investigator to determine the nature and scope of the breach. The investigation is ongoing but, at this stage, it does not appear that any patient data was stolen. If data theft did occur, the information at risk includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and insurance information. Affected individuals have been offered complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services as a precaution. 

Ascension has confirmed that the websites have been replaced by new websites which Ascension hosts. The breach has been reported to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights as affecting 17,191 Ascension Seton and 1,415 Ascension Providence patients.