Scripps Health suffers a cyber attack that has disabled its computer servers and forced the healthcare system to switch to offline methods.
- Scripps Health technology servers were hacked, forcing them to switch to offline systems and causing a disruption to their patient portals.
- The cyberattack has prompted some patients to reschedule their appointments, and patients with life-threatening conditions diverted to other medical facilities.
Scripps Health suffers a cyber attack that has disabled its computer servers and forced the healthcare system to switch to offline methods.
The health care provider has five hospitals and 19 outpost facilities with over 2,600 affiliate physicians. According to data from Fortune, Scripps Health treats more than 700,000 patients annually.
On Saturday, Scripps Health observed the attack and suspended user access to applications like MyScripps and scripts.org connected to health care facilities.
The medical personnel we're forced to use paper records for the time being as the electronic medical records we're down. The organisation added that work was done using established backup processes.
The internal notice indicated that the ransomware attack impacted computer systems at two hospitals, including access to medical imaging.
The incident was severe enough that due to the attack, hospitals in Encinitas, La Jolla, San Diego and Chula Vista no longer received emergency bypass for stroke or heart attack patients, meaning patients with such life-threatening conditions will be diverted to other medical facilities.
According to the message from the health care provider, despite IT applications being offline at their facilities, patient care continues to be delivered safely and effectively.
Some locations like outpatient urgent care centres, Scripps HealthExpress locations, and Emergency Departments remain open for patient care.
Officials did not provide any information on how the cyberattack occurred, nor did they share what systems were affected by the breach.
Scripps Health has informed law enforcement and appropriate government organisations of the situation while working to get the system back to running.
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