I'm not sure what you mean by "implication of [...] identifying the patient". Although I didn't see any personal information in the article, there isn't a law

I'm not sure what you mean by "implication of [...] identifying the patient". Although I didn't see any personal information in the article, there isn't a law in the US that prevents a news agency like CNN from identifying hospital patients. HIPAA only covers entities like health insurance companies, care providers, and their business associates.