Hospital hit by suspected cybersecurity attack
St. Agnes Ascension Hospital in southwest Baltimore limited service on Thursday amid a suspected cybersecurity attack.On Wednesday, the incident forced the hospital to declare a “mini disaster,” which means the emergency department should not receive new patients. About 25% of visits to the emergency department were coming from EMS crews while the rest are walk-ins.”The hospital requested that we divert EMS traffic away from them to other nearby hospitals,” said Dr. Ted Delbridge, the executive director of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems.Ascension issued a statement, writing:”At this time, we continue to investigate the situation. We responded immediately, initiated our investigation and activated our remediation efforts. Access to some systems have been interrupted as this process continues.””Their information technology challenges over the past 24 hours have made them have to resort to paper processes, so getting people schooled up to do things the way they used to do them is taking them some time and is making the hospital a bit more inefficient than they typically are,” Delbridge told 11 News.St. Agnes said it will not turn any patient away, but hospital officials are encouraging people to find another emergency department for the time being.”If I had knowledge of their challenges right now and had a choice to go someplace else, I would choose to go someplace else,” Delbridge said. “If I had a compelling reason to go to St. Agnes or it’s a true emergency and that’s the closest place, I would go there in a heartbeat.”
St. Agnes Ascension Hospital in southwest Baltimore limited service on Thursday amid a suspected cybersecurity attack.
On Wednesday, the incident forced the hospital to declare a “mini disaster,” which means the emergency department should not receive new patients. About 25% of visits to the emergency department were coming from EMS crews while the rest are walk-ins.
“The hospital requested that we divert EMS traffic away from them to other nearby hospitals,” said Dr. Ted Delbridge, the executive director of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems.
Ascension issued a statement, writing:
“At this time, we continue to investigate the situation. We responded immediately, initiated our investigation and activated our remediation efforts. Access to some systems have been interrupted as this process continues.”
“Their information technology challenges over the past 24 hours have made them have to resort to paper processes, so getting people schooled up to do things the way they used to do them is taking them some time and is making the hospital a bit more inefficient than they typically are,” Delbridge told 11 News.
St. Agnes said it will not turn any patient away, but hospital officials are encouraging people to find another emergency department for the time being.
“If I had knowledge of their challenges right now and had a choice to go someplace else, I would choose to go someplace else,” Delbridge said. “If I had a compelling reason to go to St. Agnes or it’s a true emergency and that’s the closest place, I would go there in a heartbeat.”
