Windy City Times has contacted HBHC and NNHMC. The former has not responded at all, while NNHMC's spokesperson only said, "We can neither confirm nor deny anything at this time."

Public Communications Inc. (PCI) is no longer handling public relations for HBHC. In an email, PCI President Jill Allread wrote to WCT that "PCI's contract with HBHC ended on Dec. 31. HBHC is now handling media relations activities in house."

The new contact person is Michael Brady. Brady did not respond to our inquiries about his position or any other inquiries regarding recent changes.

Dahlia Mehdi, director of the Geriatric Education Program at HBHC, has left to go to AIDS Foundation of Chicago, the same agency where former HBHC staffer Joe Hollendoner moved to. Mehdi was cited along with Dr. Robert Garofalo as one of the two people whose treatment of a patient inspired his father to become the "Angel Donor" who provided a matching grant of $200,000 to HBHC.

Alicia Ozier has joined HBHC, reportedly as a vice president of operations. Phone calls forwarded to her voicemail led directly to a message from Joe Hollendoner's voicemail. WCT did manage to get a direct phone call through to her; she did not call back by WCT's deadline.

Johnny Song, at one time head of the finance department (his exact position appears to have changed), is also reported to be leaving. Song was hired by HBHC CEO Jamal Edwards. Song, when contacted by WCT, also said he would call back but had not done so at the time this went to print.

Also leaving is Daisy Mertzel, who worked on social media relations at HBHC; she was another Edwards hire. She has not responded to a WCT query. There is no information on where Song and Mertzel are going next.

Kathleen Lindsay was terminated from her position as the MACS Project Coordinator at HBHC Jan. 23, 2012. The MACS Project cohort at HBHC consists of approximately 240 members, and about 450 in Chicago overall, according to Lindsay.

According to Lindsay, she received a phone call on that morning from Karen York, interim director of employee services at HBHC. The reason given for her termination was that she had forwarded two complimentary patients' emails to her mother.

Lindsay stated to WCT that she was informed that her immediate supervisor, Christina Abaya, head of personnel in the research department as well as the director of clinical research, had expressed concerns about Lindsay in December 2011. Abaya asked Wil Raj, vice president and chief administrative officer, to go through Lindsay's work emails. The two emails found were a result of that investigation and, according to Lindsay, she was told that they are class 3 violations.

A small number of people associated with the MACS at HBHC, including one of the patients whose email was forwarded, have spoken to WCT about the matter. Chauncey Black, whose email is one of those in question, currently resides in Missouri but has been a MACS participant since 1984. He said he has never met Lindsay but was "shocked" that she was terminated. He acknowledged that the violation was serious and that the program was doing good work, but that he would think she would only be reprimanded for what appeared to be a first offense.

Danny Kopelson has also been a MACS study participant since 1984. He is on the MACS community advisory board as well as the general community advisory board of HBHC. He praised Lindsay's work and acknowledged that she may well have committed a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violation, but also wondered about the extent of the penalty: "I'm not sure that is the kind of thing that someone could be warned about, written up, reprimanded for and maintain their job. Or is that something so truly bad that even if you love that person, you literally have to fire them?" Kopelson asked.

Another MACS participant, Harlen Fleming, described the situation as "infuriating" and said he would be moving his participation to Northwestern University Memorial Hospital, which is, along with the CORE Center and HBHC, one of three sites for the MACS study. So far, WCT has not received any news about whether others are considering this move.

WCT also contacted Margaret Pajak, health information management director and privacy officer at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, for an expert opinion on the matter. According to Pajak, what Lindsay did is definitely a HIPPA violation of privacy and security rules. However, whether this constitutes a class 3 violation would depend on the organization's definition of categories of violations.

Pajak pointed out that patient confidentiality breaches in matters of drug and alcohol abuse and HIV/AIDS were considered particularly serious because of the stigma associated with such issues, and a healthcare organization like HBHC could justify much stricter penalties in such matters. Regardless of whom the emails were sent to, patient confidentiality is a grave matter. As Pajak put it, Lindsay could also have forwarded the email to a friend who might know the patient concerned but not their HIV status. The MACS project consists of people who are both HIV-positive and negative, but it is widely known as an HIV/AIDS study and mere association might prompt speculation about a person's status.

Pajak also noted that the punishment in this case seemed "harsh" and that, in general, such matters are considered in light of other factors such as whether it caused harm to the patient. She said that Lindsay should have stripped all identifying information from the email, but "bringing it to that high of a level of discipline is questionable and a little strong."

However, she also pointed out that recent years have seen the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) being even stricter about patient confidentiality, as made evident in the new breach notifications rules set forth in 2009. She said, "With the enactment of the breach regulations, we have to protect and notify the patient when the breach occurred and how. We also have to notify the HHS of all breaches on an annual basis. Also, when we notify HHS, we have to tell them what the breach was, what was disclosed, how many people were involved, what was done to mitigate it and what was done to prevent a similar breach from happening again. These regulations became stronger and institutions are taking them more seriously and addressing it internally with employees."

WCT contacted Karen York and Michael Brady for comment. The publication also contacted Dr. John Phair of Northwestern University, who spearheaded MACS in 1983 and still works with the project, although he is no longer at the treatment center. None of them had returned our calls by the press deadline.