By John Dobberstein, Editor
Nashville, Tenn.-based Ardent Health Services said Monday the company is dealing with a major cybersecurity incident and it’s unclear when systems will return to normal.
In a website post, Ardent said it and affiliated entities became aware of the incident Thanksgiving morning.
KRMG reported a number of facilities around Oklahoma are impacted, including all Hillcrest hospitals in Tulsa, Claremore, Pryor, Cushing, and Henryetta.
Bailey Medical Center in Owasso, Tulsa Spine and Specialty Hospital, Oklahoma Heart Institute, and all Utica Park Clinics have also suffered system failures due to the cyber attack, according to go to KRMG.
“The Ardent technology team immediately began working to understand the event, safeguard data and regain functionality,” Ardent said in a statement.
Ardent “proactively” took its network offline, suspending all user access to its information technology applications, including corporate servers, Epic software, internet and clinical programs.
Ardent said it reported the event to law enforcement and retained third-party forensic and threat intelligence advisors.
“In addition to electronic protection procedures already in place, Ardent has also implemented additional information technology security protocols and is working with specialist cybersecurity partners to restore its information technology operations and capabilities as quickly as possible,” Ardent said, adding that the company couldn’t confirm the extent of any patient health or financial data being compromised.
The incident has resulted in disruption to certain aspects of Ardent’s clinical and financial operations, but the company said patient care continues to be delivered in its hospitals, emergency rooms and clinics.
“In an abundance of caution, our facilities are rescheduling some non-emergent, elective procedures and diverting some emergency room patients to other area hospitals until systems are back online,” Ardent said.
Ardent is still determining the full impact of this event “and it is too soon to know how long this will take or what data may be involved in this incident,” the company said.
Through its subsidiaries, Ardent owns and operates 30 hospitals and over 200 sites of care with more than 1,300 employed providers in six states.
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