Ransomware attack forces Missouri's Liberty Hospital to transfer patients to other facilities

Missouri-based Liberty Hospital suffered a significant cyber security incident that forced the healthcare provider to divert all new patients to other hospitals.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Liberty Hospital said that since the early morning of December 20, it has been experiencing “disruption to our computer systems.” The hospital said it has launched an investigation and appointed external cyber security experts to understand the nature and scope of the incident.

The hospital said the cyber incident had a noticeable impact on its operations and services and is “working to restore functionality as soon as possible”, but did not state how long it may take to restore all affected services.

“We continued to care for patients while following standard protocols to document patient care while our computer systems are down. The safety of our patients is our utmost priority,” Liberty Hospital posted.

 

“After evaluating the care of every inpatient, we made the decision to transfer certain patients to other hospitals today. The remaining inpatients will continue to receive care here.”

Several local news outlets reported that the hospital authorities worked with emergency medical services and the Kansas City Fire Department to transfer patients to other medical facilities.

In a statement shared with Kansas City Star, Battalion Chief Mike Hopkins said that the fire department transported almost 30 patients to other hospitals and another 15 patients were transferred by emergency medical services.

The hospital has urged people to seek emergency care at other medical facilities till it resolves the situation. “Our primary and specialty care clinics are contacting patients who have appointments scheduled tomorrow to determine next steps,” Liberty Hospital added.

While the hospital authorities are yet to disclose the nature of the cyber attack, KMBC reported that Liberty Hospital suffered a ransomware attack and that hospital authorities have received a ransom note from the threat actors.

“We have hacked you and downloaded all confidential data of your company. And it can be spread out to people and media. Your reputation will be ruined. Do not hesitate and save your business. We’re the ones who can quickly recover your systems. Starting from now, you have 72 hours to contact us,” the ransom note read. No hacker group has taken responsibility for the attack so far.