Ascension Health System Cyberattack Disrupts Hospitals Across U.S.

A cyberattack on the Ascension health system has caused chaos in hospitals across 19 states, forcing ambulances to be diverted, medical tests to be postponed, and online access to patient records to be blocked.

The attack, which was detected on Wednesday, has left the non-profit Catholic health system scrambling to restore its systems. While officials have not confirmed whether it was a ransomware attack, the hallmarks suggest it may be. Ascension has called in Mandiant, a leading cybersecurity unit, to help with the investigation.

Patients across the affected hospitals have been impacted, with electronic records and the MyChart system, which allows patients to access their records and communicate with doctors, offline. Ambulances have been diverted from several hospitals, causing delays in emergency care.

In Wichita, Kansas, all ambulance calls were diverted from Ascension hospitals on Wednesday, but the full diversion ended on Thursday afternoon. Similar situations were reported in Pensacola, Florida, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where patients missed important tests and prescriptions.

Healthcare providers are struggling to cope with the outage, resorting to paper records and facing delays in patient care. Connie Smith, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, highlighted the challenges faced by staff due to the lack of information about when operations will return to normal.

Cybersecurity experts warn that ransomware attacks in the healthcare sector are on the rise, with data theft becoming a common tactic to extort payments. The attack on Ascension follows a similar incident earlier this year at Change Healthcare, which caused disruptions in insurance reimbursements and doctor’s offices nationwide.

As Ascension works to restore its systems, patients are advised to bring notes on their symptoms and prescription information to appointments. The full extent of the damage caused by the attack is still being assessed, and it remains unclear when operations will fully resume.

The healthcare industry continues to be a target for cybercriminals, and organizations are urged to strengthen their cybersecurity measures to prevent future attacks.