Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital has been dealing with a “cybersecurity issue” that took its phone, email and Epic MyChart systems offline since Wednesday, the provider and media reported.
The children’s hospital said in a statement Thursday night that it is “aggressively addressing” the matter and seeking assistance from “leading experts” and law enforcement. However, the organization’s main hospitals, outpatient facilities, and primary care offices have all been affected. per report and social media posts from patients’ families; There are communication barriers, prescription issues, surgery cancellations, and other disruptions.
“As Illinois’ leading pediatric health care provider, our top priority is to continue to provide safe, high-quality care to our patients and the community,” the hospital said in a statement. “Lurie Children’s is open and providing care to our patients with as little disruption as possible.”
Lurie Children’s said it has taken its network systems offline “as part of our response” and is “currently working to establish a call center to serve the needs of patient families and community health care providers.”
Lurie Children’s does not describe the disruption as ransomware or any other type of cyberattack. The organization provides care to more than 239,000 children annually at its downtown Chicago hospital, 17 outpatient service locations, and six primary care locations.
Cyberattacks and data breaches among healthcare organizations have increased in recent years, according to federal records. The issue has become a key focus for the Biden administration, which recently announced voluntary cybersecurity performance goals for hospitals and pledged future rulemaking to encourage resiliency across the industry.
Children’s hospitals are not immune to cyberattacks on medical facilities, but last year saw an unusual incident by a ransomware group. issued an apology After learning that a related organization was behind the incident, he released Toronto Hospital for Sick Children from an extortion attack.