Hospital officials said they learned in November that certain associate e-mail accounts were breached, which may have allowed patient names, dates of service and certain clinical information to be accessed.

Those patients were sent a letter from hospital officials informing them of actions by a third party to inappropriately obtain e-mail log-ins.

"We sincerely regret this unfortunate situation, and have made certain to properly inform all affected patients of the issue," said Rex McKinney, privacy officer at St.Vincent. "Our priority is to ensure patients are aware of the available resources to assist during this time. We will continue to make it a priority to improve our processes to protect all patient information."

Hospital officials said they are taking appropriate steps to prevent similar incidents from taking place again.

Patients who receive a letter from St. Vincent can contact CSIdentity at 800-805-7004, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday.