University of Mississippi Medical Center to keep clinics closed following ransomware attack

A major ransomware attack forced the University of Mississippi Medical Center to shut down all of its clinics and cancel appointments as it struggled to restore its IT network during the weekend.

 

Located in Jackson, Mississippi, the University of Mississippi Medical Center is the state’s only academic medical centre with a 164-acre campus housing seven health science schools, including medicine, nursing, dentistry and pharmacy. The university also hosts Conerly Critical Care Hospital, Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants, and the University Hospital.

 

The university detected a significant ransomware attack in the early hours of February 19 which impacted its IT network, the EPIC electronic medical record system and Mississippi MED-COM, a network that hospitals use to carry out state-wide hospital transfers.

 

Due to the widespread disruption caused by the ransomware attack, UMMC decided to temporarily close all of its clinics and cancel scheduled appointments and surgeries. 

 

“Early this morning, we sustained a cyber attack, which impacted our IT network and many of our systems, including our electronic medical records system, EPIC. We have triggered our emergency operations plan: this impacts all medical center locations,” said LouAnn Woodward, the university’s vice chancellor for health affairs.

 

The university has decided to keep all its clinics closed on February 23 and 24 to deal with the cyber attack-related disruptions and restore its IT network. Woodward told the local press that critical operations in the emergency department remain functional and in-person classes are being scheduled for students. The kidney dialysis clinic at Jackson Medical Mall will also remain functional.

 

“At this point in the incident it’s too early for us to communicate what we do and don’t know, but we are in the process of surging resources, both locally and nationally, into this incident to make sure that we are standing alongside with UMMC and their vendors,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff.

 

As of Monday, the university’s website, phone systems and the ability to send and receive emails are non-functional or unreliable and the medical centre’s IT teams are working with federal and state agencies and cyber security experts to deal with the fallout of the ransomware attack.

 

“Our care teams continue to provide exceptional service to our patients and families. I know this intrusion into our system has negatively impacted some of our patients, but please know that we are using every resource at our disposal to resolve this issue in a safe and effective manner,” Woodward added.