Hospital facilities affiliated with Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health have shut down their EHR systems due to an IT security incident affecting its parent company, the Des Moines Register reported Oct. 4.
MercyOne Des Moines (Iowa) Medical Center has shut down some of its IT systems as well as its EHR system due to the unspecified cybersecurity incident affecting CommonSpirit.
MercyOne did not specify how shutting down its systems was affecting patient care, but according to the article, ambulances were diverted from the hospital's emergency department to other medical facilities Oct. 3.
Other hospitals that have taken their EHR systems offline due to the incident include:
- Omaha, Neb.-based CHI Health hospitals, which include Lakeside Hospital, Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy and Immanuel Medical Center.
- Virginia Mason Franciscan Health providers, including St. Michael Medical Center and St. Anthony Hospital.
A spokesperson for CommonSpirit Health told Becker's in an emailed statement, "CommonSpirit Health is managing an IT security incident which is impacting some of our facilities. As a precautionary step we have taken certain IT systems offline, which in some of our divisions includes electronic health record systems and other systems. Our facilities are following existing protocols for system outages and taking steps to minimize the disruption. We take our responsibility to ensure the privacy of our patients and IT security very seriously. As a result of this incident, we have rescheduled some patient appointments in some of our communities. Patients will be contacted directly by their provider and/or care facility if their appointment is impacted."
CommonSpirit operates 140 hospitals and more than 1,500 other healthcare sites across 21 states.