Ascension hospitals hit by cyberattack seeing widespread disruptions in patient care

Ascension hospitals in Wisconsin and across the U.S. were hit Wednesday by a cyberattack that has interfered with its computer network and led to widespread disruptions in patient care that have continued into Thursday.

The resulting disruptions, which one physician called a crisis, mean that doctors and nurses at Ascension Wisconsin hospitals do not have access to patients' medical histories or other patient information, cannot communicate like they used to across hospital departments and do not have access to old lab or test results, according to people who work at Ascension hospitals. They are having to use paper records to record patient conditions, order procedures and write prescriptions, they said.

It is unclear when the situation might be resolved.

"We detected unusual activity on select technology network systems, which we now believe is due to a cyber security event," Ascension said in a statement posted on its website. "Our care teams are trained for these kinds of disruptions and have initiated procedures to ensure patient care delivery continues to be safe and as minimally impacted as possible. There has been a disruption to clinical operations, and we continue to assess the impact and duration of the disruption."

One physician who works at Ascension and spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions advised patients who are critically ill or who have chronic illnesses that require detailed follow-up to avoid Ascension locations until the crisis is over.

Under this situation, when a patient comes in to an Ascension hospital or office for an appointment or a visit, doctors are "flying blind," the physician said.

"You have no backstory of the person. You don't know what the chief complaint is. You don't know the history of the patient," the physician said. "You’re completely blind."

Health care professionals at Ascension locations do not have access to the electronic medical record system used by Ascension, which records all of a patient's medical information, said Connie Smith, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, the union that represents health care workers at Ascension St. Francis Hospital on Milwaukee's south side.

She said the disruptions mean it will take longer for patients to get care, but that nurses and other health care workers are doing the best they can to take care of patients and finding workarounds.

In its statement, Ascension said it responded immediately to the situation and continues to investigate. Ascension is working with Mandiant, a cybersecurity consulting company, to investigate and help determine what information, if any, was compromised in the cyberattack.

A Catholic health system, Ascension has 140 hospitals and other care facilities across 19 states and the District of Columbia. It reported in May that it had 134,000 employees.

In Wisconsin, the health system operates 17 hospitals in southeastern Wisconsin and the Fox Valley, in addition to many physician offices and other health care sites.

The Detroit Free-Press contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ascension Wisconsin hospitals hit by cyberattack, disrupting care