The Network of New York Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHEALTH) has announced the restoration of their online systems after a week of failures caused by a cyberattack.
On October 16, Hospital Healthllians Hospital, Margaretville Hospital, and Mountainside Residential Care Center faced a potential threat of cybersecurity and an IT system failure. As a result, all three medical institutions stopped taking patients for a week. Ambulance brigades also stopped going to hospitals from October 14 to 17, but it is unclear if this was directly related to the incident. During this time, phones, email, and online hospital services were disconnected.
To restore the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, all related IT systems in the three institutions were turned off on the evening of October 20. By the evening of October 21, the medical institutions announced the complete restoration of work and the resumption of patients. However, patients with signs of a stroke will temporarily be redirected to other hospitals in the region. The details of the incident were never disclosed.
Throughout the week, residents of the region expressed concern about the situation. Despite initial assurances that patient care had not stopped, some residents reported problems when receiving medical care.
The hospital has notified the FBI and the New York Department of Health about the incident. The investigation is being conducted by an unnamed third-party information security company.
The University of Minnesota has reported that mortality rates in hospitals increase by 20-35% for patients who seek treatment during a cyberattack. The issue has even reached the US Congress, which recently held a hearing on cyber attacks targeting medical institutions.