Hospital signs on for cybersecurity program

Greenwood Leflore Hospital has never been a victim of a cyberattack, but hackers have, as one administrator describes it, “jiggled the doorknob, trying to open it” to get into its patient and financial data.

To ward them off, the Greenwood hospital is one of the first in the nation to take advantage of a new cybersecurity program provided by technology giant Microsoft.

On Tuesday at Greenwood Leflore Hospital, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson joined representatives from Microsoft to announce the initiative aimed to help rural hospitals and health clinics, which have become some of the most vulnerable to cyberattacks. 

Microsoft will cover all of the costs of the software and training in the first year for the Greenwood hospital as well as for Sharkey Issaquena Hospital in Rolling Fork, which is still operating out of tents following a devastating tornado in 2023. Both hospitals are located in the district represented by the Democratic congressman. 

In the second year, Microsoft will discount the cost to the hospitals by 75%. The details for subsequent years are still being worked out.

The estimated value of the first year is $50,000, according to Greenwood Leflore Hospital officials.

Gary Marchand, the interim CEO at the hospital, said the program will supplement the ongoing efforts of the hospital’s information technology staff to block potential cyberattacks.

“We appreciate the help,” he said. “It’s going to augment the risk we’re already trying to cover. So it’s only going to be beneficial.”

According to a press release from Thompson’s office, the health-care sector reported more ransomware attacks in 2023 than any other critical infrastructure sector in the country, and attacks involving ransomware against health-care institutions were up 128%.

The cybersecurity initiative is a collaboration of Microsoft, the White House, the American Hospital Association and the National Rural Health Association. Similar offers of financial assistance to implement or strengthen cybersecurity protection are being made by Microsoft to rural hospitals around the country.

“It’s critical that we make sure that the hospitals have all the resources that are necessary to fortify themselves as we are kind of inundated with these cyberattacks,” said Vickie Robinson, general manager of Microsoft’s airband initiative.

The hospital program, she said, is a continuation of Microsoft’s multimillion-dollar efforts, launched in 2017, to help rural communities catch up technologically with urban areas. Still, according to Thompson, he and others in the federal government did a little arm-twisting to get Microsoft on board to help hospitals defray the cost of the electronic protection.

“We kind of made Microsoft an offer they can’t refuse,” said Thompson, borrowing from one of the most famous lines in the epic “Godfather” gangster movie.

“The federal government is one of their largest customers,” the congressman explained. “If your largest customer comes and says, ‘We really need you to embrace rural America,’ I think you’re going to tell them, ‘OK, I hear you. What do I need to do?’”

Thompson also used the gathering, which attracted a number of local public officials as well as hospital administrators and employees, to advocate again for Medicaid expansion in Mississippi. 

During the 2024 legislative session, Mississippi’s Republican-dominated Legislature for the first time seriously considered proposals to expand the government-funded health insurance program to cover the mostly working poor. The House and Senate, however, could not agree on a bill, and the effort died. Meanwhile, Mississippi remains one of 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid.

The issue is expected to resurface during the 2025 legislative session. Estimates are that expansion, most of which would be paid for by the federal government, would bring an extra $1 billion a year to Mississippi for health care.

“I don’t know what a billion would do for Greenwood Leflore, but maybe next time we’ll be fortunate to get it,” Thompson said.

– Contact Tim Kalich at 662-581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.