[BreachExchange] Kentucky hospital reports network outage, care delays amid cyberattack

[Terrell Byrd]

https://www.scmagazine.com/analysis/cybercrime/kentucky-hospital-reports-network-outage-care-delays-amid-cyberattack


A cyberattack struck Taylor Regional Hospital (TRH) earlier this week,
which has led to electronic health record downtime procedures and network
outages, according to a notice posted on the Kentucky hospital’s website.

All systems are down, including the phone systems, as TRH investigates the
security incident and works to safely restore the impacted systems. The
phone lines are fully operational for the walk-in clinic, orthopedic group,
pediatrics, surgical associates and oncology.

“In the meantime, TRH continues to provide quality care to our patients,”
officials said in a statement. “We appreciate the community's patience and
understanding, and we apologize for the inconvenience caused by this event.”

Patients are continuing to be seen, but reports show there have been a
number of care disruptions. Routine outpatient lab services have been
limited to set, reduced hours, while chemo and STAT orders are only being
accepted if needed.

All patients must bring in current medications to previously scheduled
appointments, along with any written orders for lab services, as clinicians
can’t access the online system. TRH is also warning the community to expect
longer than normal wait times.

Further, the walk-in clinic for COVID-19 testing has been limited to just
two hours and only on a first-come, first-serve basis, with TRH warning
that they’ll “test during this time as long as our allocated tests are
available. And the clinic can’t schedule testing, as previously
communicated.

On social media, patients are warning that outpatient services were
canceled after 2PM on Jan. 25. Another individual explained the hospital is
unable to process any lab results or fax any provider outside of the TRH
network or patient.

All lab copies are being hand-written and clinicians can’t review reference
ranges, meaning the hospital can’t consider the results as final as part of
its accreditation standards. The social media post also shows TRH
clinicians can’t access any labs completed in the computer system prior to
being forced into EHR downtime with the attack on Jan. 19.

TRH is continuing to work on a plan moving forward to gain access to the
reference lab, offsite fax, and LabCorp, but the downtime “is taking longer
than expected.” But those plans won’t “help labs collected prior to this
week.” The downtime was clearly unexpected, and services will remain
limited until the systems come back online.
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