Falls City, Neb.-based Community Medical Center shut down its computer network after a weekend cyberattack, prompting ambulances to take critical patients to other hospitals, MSC News reported Oct. 19.
The Qilin hacker group, a Russia-affiliated organization, got into parts of the hospital’s network and caused damage, according to the report. The full extent of the damage remains unknown, though the intrusion appears to have reached some business files.
Ambulance services are taking critical patients elsewhere because the hospital is having trouble sending images to radiologists. Some appointments have been canceled or delayed, and staff have gone back to pen and paper. CEO Ryan Larsen expects slower services to last most of this week. The emergency room remains open.
Patient information appears not to have been compromised. The hospital will bring in outside experts to confirm that and will notify people if it finds other problems.
Mr. Larsen told the news outlet the hospital deals with hundreds of thousands of attempted cyberattacks each month. He acknowledged that locking down the computer system has frustrated employees. He said the hospital can’t risk using it until it knows the full extent of the damage.
Community Medical Center is replacing its computers and deploying an entirely new network. The hospital is getting expedited computer shipments from across the country and help with equipment from Lincoln, Neb.-based Bryan Health.
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