SAN ANTONIO – Four hundred thousand CentroMed patients could be at risk after an April data breach, CentroMed leadership tells KSAT.
“They encrypted our files; we don’t believe that they took the data, they locked up our systems, and we do not have access to our files,” said Ana Maria Garza Cortez, senior vice president & chief development officer for CentroMed.
CentroMed staff is now in the process of notifying current and past patients; so far, they estimate that 180,000 emails have been sent out.
“There is hope that you guys will reobtain everything that was hacked or compromised,” asked KSAT’s John Paul Barajas.
“Yes, we actually expect to have our records and our systems available as early as next week,” Garza Cortez said.
Garaz Cortez could not commit to a specific day when their systems would be back online.
For patients like Isabel Correa, time is running out.
“They don’t have my records; I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said.
Correa tells us she needs her medical records to file her disability claim.
“The only thing I have is like $400, that’s it,” she said. “I can’t work, I can’t drive, I haven’t been cleared for anything.”
As for the reason for the hack, CentroMed would not say.
“I don’t have those details at this time,” Garza Cortez said.
“So we don’t know if they’re requesting funds?” Barajas followed up
“Based on the advice of legal counsel, we are not allowed to discuss if it was requesting funds or not,” Garza Cortez said.
CentroMed dealt with a similar issue in June 2023, but it’s not clear if the same people are responsible.
“There are different steps that are happening to make sure that this incident doesn’t happen again at Centromed,” said Garza Cortez
“Given that you had two massive incidents in June of 2023 with 350,000 patients notified, and now we have 400,000 in less than a year’s time, how do you make that promise?” asked Barajas
“It is a difficult time with our society, and we’re not unique to the situation,” Garza Cortez said.
For Correa, that’s not enough.
“I will never trust CentroMed with my health information or my children’s information ever again,” she said.
Patients with concerns are encouraged to call CentroMed’s toll-free number: 888-990-8424.
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