Next Step Healthcare & HopeWay Foundation Notify Patients About Data Breaches
Next Step Healthcare in Massachusetts and HopeWay Foundation in North Carolina have announced data breaches, and ransomware groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on Jordan Drug Inc., Arkansas Primary Care, Sandhills Medical Foundation, Navesink Rehab, Texas Digestive Specialists, and Naper Grove Vision Care.
Next Step Healthcare Notifies Patients About June 2024 Cyberattack
Next Step Healthcare, a Woburn, Massachusetts skilled nursing and rehabilitation care provider, has started notifying 12,090 individuals about a security incident that was detected 12 months ago. According to the breach notice, Next Step Healthcare identified unusual activity within its computer systems on June 5, 2024, and immediately took steps to secure its network and terminate the activity. Third-party cybersecurity experts were engaged to investigate the activity and confirmed there had been unauthorized access to systems containing patient data. Files containing patient data may have been downloaded by the threat actor.
Next Step Healthcare conducted a review of the affected files, and that process has recently been completed. Notification letters were sent to the affected individuals on May 29, 2025. The data compromised in the incident varied from individual to individual and may have included names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driving license numbers, financial account numbers, diagnoses, treatment information, and other health-related information. Next Step Healthcare said it has taken steps to strengthen security to prevent similar incidents in the future. Complimentary credit monitoring services have been offered to the affected individuals.
While not stated in the notification letters, the Qilin ransomware group claimed responsibility for the attack and added Next Step Healthcare to its data leak site in July 2024.
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HopeWay Foundation Identifies Compromised Email Accounts
HopeWay Foundation, a non-profit mental health treatment organization in Charlotte, North Carolina, has recently notified 3,523 patients about the potential theft of some of their protected health information. In November 2024, HopeWay identified suspicious activity in an employee’s email account. The account was immediately secured, and an investigation was launched to determine the nature and scope of the unauthorized activity.
The investigation confirmed that six email accounts had been accessed by an unauthorized third party between October 31, 2024, and November 21, 2024. HopeWay engaged data review specialists to review emails and attachments in the compromised accounts, and that process was completed on March 19, 2025. The information potentially compromised in the incident varies from individual to individual and includes full names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, financial account information, health insurance information, diagnoses, and treatment information.
Ransomware Groups Claim Attacks on Healthcare Organizations
Ransomware groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on several healthcare organizations in the past few days. The Inc Ransom ransomware group claims to have attacked Jordan Drug Inc., the operator of six independent pharmacies in eastern Kentucky. Jordan Drug has reported the incident to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights as affecting 4,947 individuals, but has yet to disclose details of the attack. The Little Rock-based healthcare provider, Arkansas Primary Care, and the South Carolina federally qualified community health center, Sandhills Medical Foundation, have also recently been listed on the Inc Ransom data leak site.
The BlackLock ransomware group has claimed responsibility for a ransomware attack on Navesink Rehab, a multidisciplinary rehabilitation center in Red Bank, New Jersey, and the Interlock ransomware group has added two healthcare providers to its data leak site: Texas Digestive Specialists/Family Health Specialists in Texas and Naper Grove Vision Care in Illinois. None of the alleged victims has confirmed the ransomware groups’ claims at the time of writing.
