Ernie Mandel HealthDay Reporter
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FRIDAY, May 10, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Ascension, a major U.S. health system with 140 hospitals in 19 states, announced late Thursday that a cyberattack has disrupted some of its hospitals. .
“Systems that are currently unavailable include MyChart, our electronic health records system (which allows patients to view their medical records and communicate with their health care providers), some telephone systems, certain tests, and procedures. , including the various systems used to order medicines,” Ascension said. in his statement.
In some cases, emergency medical services have also been affected, with ambulances being diverted from certain medical centers, the St. Louis-based chain said.
“Several hospitals are currently being converted to emergency medical services to ensure immediate triage of emergency cases,” Ascension said. “If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please call 911 and local emergency services will take you to the nearest hospital emergency room.”
Some non-emergency procedures, tests and appointments have also been postponed as Ascension deals with the cyber hack. The cyber hack was first disclosed on Wednesday when “Ascension detected unusual activity on our network systems.”
“The investigation and recovery efforts will take time to complete, but there is no end date in sight,” the nonprofit health system said in a statement.
Ascension also operates more than 40 senior housing facilities.
The Ascension cyberattack is just one in a series of attacks on U.S. healthcare organizations.
Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of healthcare giant UnitedHealth Group, was hit by a ransomware attack in February that disrupted billing at pharmacies across the country and affected up to one-third of Americans, CNN reported. Data has been compromised.
To protect patient data, UnitedHealth paid $22 million to the criminals behind the attack, CEO Andrew Whitty told Congress this month.
Source: Ascension, Statement, May 9, 2024. CNN
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