JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Several systems are currently unavailable following a confirmed ”cybersecurity incident” at Ascension hospitals, according to an Ascension spokesperson.
Ascension, which is one of the largest nonprofit healthcare systems in the United States, detected unusual activity on its network systems on Tuesday.
Officials said the unavailable systems include the electronic health records system, MyChart (which enables patients to view their medical records and communicate with providers), some phone systems, and other systems that are used to order certain tests, procedures and medications.
In addition, “out of an abundance of caution,” some non-emergent elective procedures, tests and appointments have been temporarily paused as experts work to restore its systems.
“Our teams are working directly with any patient whose appointment or procedure will need to be rescheduled. We understand the frustration this may cause and sincerely regret any inconvenience to our patients,” an Ascension spokesperson wrote.
RELATED | A cyberattack forces a big US health system to divert ambulances and take records offline
News4JAX was told most services are operating locally at St. Vincent’s in Riverside. One of our colleagues was able to retrieve some of their records. However, we were told the process was not as quick as before.
John and Barbara Milano have been trying to get an MRI at Ascension St. Vincent’s in Riverside. John said while trying to schedule it this week, he noticed problems.
“I tried to call them to make the appointment because I need an MRI and I was told the system is down,” John said. “I tried again on Thursday, twice. And also this morning twice. My wife also has authorization to have a procedure done in St. Vincent’s. And also, it was, I would say denied because we couldn’t make the appointment. She needs a procedure and so do I.”
At this point, John does not know when the procedure will happen.
Officials said they do not know when they’ll be able to restore all systems. However, they said they expect the work “will take time to complete,” and that they will utilize downtime procedures and protocols to provide patient care for “some time.”
For that reason, patients are being asked to bring their appointment notes on their symptoms and a list of current medications and prescription numbers or the prescription bottles so their care team can call in medication needs to pharmacies.
MORE | JEA faces nearly 900,000 cyberattack attempts in a single day
The hospital system is using a third-party expert to help in the investigation and it has alerted authorities.
“We are beyond grateful for the hard work and dedication of our care teams across the system, and their continued commitment to our patients,” an Ascension spokesperson wrote. “We also thank our patients and our community for their continued support and patience during this time as we work through a diligent, time-intensive process to restore systems as quickly, and as safely, as possible. To ensure all patients, staff, and stakeholders are kept informed during this event, we will continue to post updated information on our website as it becomes available.”
For John and his wife Barbara, the fact that it’s been hacked is why he is worried. He said it happened to him before with a different hospital system.
“I’m concerned about it deeply. The reason why, is that this is happening through a lot of health care facilities,” John said.
Healthcare providers across the US have suffered numerous ransomware attacks in recent years, some of which have disrupted patient care and cost healthcare providers millions, if not billions, of dollars.
Ascension is a health system that includes 140 hospitals and 40 senior living facilities in 19 states, including multiple locations around Northeast Florida.
If you’ve been turned away or had appointments canceled due to the cybersecurity incident, please let us know by filling out the form below.