The Point

The Point, July 12, 2023: HCA Healthcare confirms data breach

By WUFT News,

WUFT News

Published July 12, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT

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The stories near you

• Mainstreet Daily News: BOCC pauses meat processing plant until August. "The County Commission voted 4-0 in support of the decision at Tuesday's regular meeting—less than 12 hours after holding a Monday joint meeting with the Newberry City Commission."

• Ocala Star-Banner ($): Marion County mother charged with murder in death of her 17-month-old son. "According to the Marion County Children's Alliance Violence Protect Workgroup, the death of her son Jermiyah was the first domestic violence homicide of 2023 in Marion County. Last year there were four."

• WCJB: Buchholz High School math team wins 15th national championship. "Buchholz lost the state championship in April to American Heritage by just 17 points. This time around, the team beat American Heritage by 379 points."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Community tackles sports needs at workshop. "The city of Gainesville held the first of two community workshops to gain feedback on developing a multi-use sports complex in East Gainesville on Tuesday."

• WCJB: 13-foot Smalltooth Sawfish caught, tagged, and released off the coast of Cedar Key. "The fish was listed as an endangered species in 2003 due to habitat loss and over harvesting."

• The Alligator: Popular chain dispensary opens on 13th Street. "A line of about 50 cannabis lovers wrapped around the side of the new Cookies dispensary awaiting its grand opening, some of them even camping out overnight."

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Around the state

• Fort Myers News-Press ($): Data breach confirmed by HCA Healthcare: 11 million patients, 47 Florida hospitals affected. "HCA Healthcare officials announced this week that a list of patients' information was compromised and discovered on an online forum for sale by an unknown party, affecting millions of people."

• News Service of Florida: Farmers Insurance is exiting Florida. "The company said the move will affect only Farmers-branded policies and will not affect policies sold in the state by subsidiaries Foremost and Bristol West. It indicated the Farmers-branded policies make up about 30 percent of the policies sold by the affiliated companies in Florida."

• News Service of Florida: Reinsurance: A key piece of Florida’s insurance market is improving — but at a price. "Those are takeaways from new reports as Florida insurers try to bounce back after two years of homeowners losing policies and facing major rate increases because of financial troubles in the industry."

• Associated Press: Florida in hot water as ocean temperatures rise along with the humidity. "Water temperatures in the mid-90s (mid-30s Celsius) are threatening delicate coral reefs, depriving swimmers of cooling dips and adding a bit more ick to the Sunshine State’s already oppressive summer weather."

• WMFE-Orlando: Florida Policy CEO says sales tax holidays aren't as helpful as you think. "When we do the research and look at who utilizes the sales tax and what kind of relief they provide, they don't actually promote economic growth or increase purchases by consumers, or provide targeted tax relief the way that we might expect."

• News Service of Florida: Florida has 20 circuit courts. Could some of them be consolidated? "A committee appointed by Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muniz will hold its first meeting Friday to begin looking at consolidation in the 20-circuit system."

• WMFE-Orlando: Saharan dust heads toward Florida. "Eicher said the good news is that the Saharan dust protects us from hurricanes and brings dynamic sunsets and sunrises."

• Tampa Bay Times ($): Sinkhole that swallowed Seffner man reopens for 3rd time in 10 years. "This week, workers will begin filling the hole with gravel and water — the same method used in 2015, according to Jon-Paul Lavandeira, division director of Hillsborough County Code Enforcement."