CHS plans to notify affected patients and offer protection…Community Health Systems (CHS), a large network of hospitals says hackers have stolen the personal information of 4.5 million patients, including patients in Florida. Community Health Systems (CHS) operates more than 200 hospitals across the country, 26 in Florida, and 12 in the Central Florida area. The company said hackers from China broke into its computers and stole the names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses and telephone numbers of the patients.

The patients affected by the cyber-attack are patients who were referred to, or seen at some physician practices affiliated with some of Community Health System hospitals. Filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company says the attack happened in April and June of last year. Community Health Systems Inc. says they have removed all of the malware from its network and added protection against future attacks. The company confirms none of the stolen data included credit cards or medical information.
CHS said it plans to notify the affected patients and offer identity theft protection.