Chicago (CBS) — Ascension Medical Network announced Wednesday that clinical operations were disrupted due to a cyberattack.
Ascension said in a news release that it responded immediately and that access to some systems has been disrupted as remediation efforts are underway.
“Our care teams are trained to prepare for this type of disruption and have initiated steps to ensure the delivery of patient care remains safe and minimizes impact wherever possible,” Ascension said in a news release. I did,” he said. “Clinical operations have been disrupted and we continue to assess the impact and duration of the disruption.”
Ascension said it had hired cybersecurity firm Mandiant Solutions to assist with the investigation and notified authorities.
“We are committed to working together to thoroughly investigate what information may have been affected by this situation,” Ascension said. “If we determine that sensitive information has been affected, we will notify and support affected individuals in accordance with all relevant regulatory and legal guidelines.”
Ascension has advised its business partners to temporarily suspend their connections to Ascension systems.
Ascension is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit and Catholic health systems.
Ascension Illinois currently operates 14 hospitals in the Chicago area. They include Ascension Holy Family in Des Plaines, Ascension Alexian Brothers Medical Center and Behavioral Health Hospital in Elk Grove Village, Ascension St. Alexius in Hoffman Estates, and Ascension St. Mary and St. Elizabeth in Hoffman Estates. West Town, Ascension St. Joseph in East Lakeview, Ascension St. Francis in Evanston, and Ascension Resurrection in Norwood Park.
These hospitals were part of the AMITA partnership between Ascension and AdventHealth until the partnership was split two years ago.
In January, Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital was also hit by a high-profile incident. cyber attack.the hospital had to As a result, your phone, email, and other systems go offline – and normal operations were disrupted for several weeks.