Prospect Medical Holdings said cyber attack impacted multiple hospital networks

Prospect Medical Holdings, a major hospital network in the US, said it suffered a significant cyber attack that impacted several hospitals across the country.

Prospect Medical Holdings is one of the largest hospital networks in the US with 16 hospitals under its wing operating in California, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island and a network of 166 outpatient clinics and centres.

The news of a cyber attack came to light when the internal systems of the hospital’s network started facing technical issues, forcing the hospitals to divert patients to other facilities and to put a temporary halt to operations.

In a statement shared with the media, a Prospect Medical Holdings’ spokesperson confirmed the news of a cyber attack, stating that the hospital chain suffered a “data security incident that has disrupted our operations.”

“Upon learning of this, we took our systems offline to protect them and launched an investigation with the help of third-party cyber security specialists. While our investigation continues, we are focused on addressing the pressing needs of our patients as we work diligently to return to normal operations as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson added.

Eastern Connecticut Health Network, one of the hospitals under the network, announced that due to the security incident, elective surgery and GI procedures, outpatient medical imaging at Evergreen and Tolland Imaging Women’s Center, outpatient blood draw and outpatient physical therapy services will be closed until further notice.

“Prospect Medical Holdings facilities are having #IT complications impacting some ECHN locations. Our team is trained in continuing patient processes. We are contacting #patients whose appointments may be impacted. We will provide updates as we receive them,” ECHN tweeted.

 

Several other emergency departments, including the ones at Manchester Memorial and Rockville General Hospitals, both under the Eastern Connecticut Health Network, took their operations offline, forcing patients to be diverted to other hospitals.

Another hospital in Springfield, Pennsylvania, the Crozer-Chester Medical System, said that most of the computers in the hospital weren’t working, forcing the hospital staff to revert to manual mode of operation using paper records.

Prospect Medical Holdings said it is working directly with the FBI to investigate the security incident and understand the nature and scope of the same. “We are working closely with federal law enforcement to respond to this incident,” it said in a statement.

In a statement shared with the media, Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said that the agency is “working in close coordination with our federal and private sector partners and stands ready to provide any assistance needed.

“This incident underscores the seriousness of the cyber threat to our nation’s critical infrastructure," he added.

National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said that the White House is “closely monitoring the ongoing incident,” and that “the Department of Health and Human Services has been in contact with the company to offer federal assistance, and we are ready to provide support as needed to prevent any disruption to patient care as a result of this incident.”