Ascension hospitals taking EMS patients again after cyberattack

Ascension hospitals in Wichita have reopened and are taking EMS patients for most units after diverting them to Wesley Medical Center for more than 24 hours in the wake of discovering a cyberattack Wednesday afternoon, Ascension said Thursday evening.

Most of the units, including the trauma unit, were reopened before 6 p.m., an Ascension spokesperson said.

In a news release just after 6 p.m., Ascension said the healthcare system is “working around the clock with internal and external advisors to investigate, contain, and restore our systems following a thorough validation and screening process. Our investigation and restoration work will take time to complete, and we do not have a timeline for completion.”

Because of downed systems, patients are asked to bring to their appointments notes on their symptoms, a list of medications and prescription numbers or the prescription bottles so medications can be refilled.

“Systems that are currently unavailable include our electronic health records system, MyChart (which enables patients to view their medical records and communicate with their providers), some phone systems, and various systems utilized to order certain tests, procedures and medications. We have implemented established protocols and procedures to address these particular system disruptions in order to continue to provide safe care to patients. Out of an abundance of caution, however, some non-emergent elective procedures, tests and appointments have been temporarily paused while we work to bring systems back online. Our teams are working directly with any patient whose appointment or procedure will need to be rescheduled.”

Most or all of Ascension’s 139 hospitals across the country have been affected by the attack. Ascension is one of the largest health systems in the country.

“We have engaged Mandiant, a third party expert, to assist in the investigation and remediation process, and we have notified the appropriate authorities,” Ascension said in a news release Thursday morning. “Together, we are working to fully investigate what information, if any, may have been affected by the situation. Should we determine that any sensitive information was affected, we will notify and support those individuals in accordance with all relevant regulatory and legal guidelines.”

Ascension said on that on Wednesday it “detected unusual activity on select technology network systems, which we now believe is due to a cyber security event.”

“At this time we continue to investigate the situation,” the news release says. “Access to some systems have been interrupted as this process continues.”

The attack has affected operations at Ascension hospitals differently across the country, including leaving some medical staff unable to access medical records.

At St. Francis and St. Joseph, staff was having to use pen and paper and announce medical emergencies over the PA system because their pagers are down, according to a spokesperson representing the union covering those hospitals.

This comes days after Wichita reported a cyberattack that has caused city officials to change many city operations. That attack is being claimed by a Russian hacker group known as LockBit, which, in an indictment released this week, was called “the most prolific and destructive ransomware group in the world.” The deadline for Wichita to pay the ransom appears to be May 15.