Vecino Health Centers Mitigates Impact of MOVEit Cyber Attack

HOUSTON, TX: August 7, 2023 — Vecino Health Centers announced today it was affected by the recent MOVEit cyber attack impacting several industries across the US and worldwide. The information impacted included names, dates of birth, and prescription dates for a segment of Vecino’s patient base. The incident did not impact any of Vecino Health Centers patients’ electronic medical records or compromise any patients’ social security numbers, bank account information, or other financial information.

“We take the safeguarding of patient information and, thus, the occurrence of this event very seriously” said Daniel Montez, CEO of Vecino Health Centers.  “Taking steps to prevent future attacks is an ongoing priority.”

Patients with information impacted by the breach are being notified by mail. Additional information on steps individuals can take to monitor and protect their personal information is provided. Patients who receive a bill or phone call seeking payment from anyone claiming to be representing Vecino Health Centers are encouraged to contact their home clinic — Denver Harbor Family Health Center or Airline Children & Women’s Health Center — to verify that the request is legitimate. 

The cyber attack occurred on May 30, 2023 on a MOVEit server. MOVEit is a managed file transfer software program used by Harris Health. Vecino Health Centers shares information with Harris Health and thus was also affected by the vulnerability. On June 23, 2023, Harris Health informed Vecino Health Centers that our patient data was impacted. Harris Health has taken steps to help prevent something like this from happening in the future. Harris Health has implemented all patches that the provider of MOVEit has made available and taken other remediation steps to secure its MOVEit server and will continue to look for ways to enhance its secure file transfer protocols.

Individuals with questions can contact Vecino Heath Centers toll-free at 866-236-4316.

About Vecino Health Centers

Vecino Health Centers is a private nonprofit organization committed to making quality healthcare accessible and sustainable to the medically underserved in Houston. Established in 1999, Vecino is a Federally Qualified Health Center operating two community health centers in northeast Houston: Denver Harbor Family Health Center and Airline Children and Women’s Health Center.