All care locations in MercyOne Central Iowa's region, including Des Moines, are continuing to take patient appointments even as the health system struggles with an unspecified IT security breach affecting its parent company, Chicago-based CommonSpirit, the Des Moines Register reported Oct. 6.
On Oct. 6, MercyOne Central Iowa officials said the hospital could not schedule patient appointments online due to the incident, but that patients could call to schedule an appointment at one of MercyOne's clinics.
"Patients can be assured that MercyOne is able to serve all health care needs with minimal disruption to normal operations," a spokesperson told the Register.
This comes after the health system had to shut down some of its information technology systems, including its EHR system, and divert ambulances to nearby hospitals because of the security incident.
The Oct. 3 CommonSpirit security incident has affected multiple hospitals across the country, including MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, Seattle-based Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, Newark, N.J.-based St. Michael Medical Center, Omaha, Neb.-based Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy, Omaha, Neb.-based Immanuel Medical Center and Houston-based St. Luke's Health.
Officials have yet to offer details on what occurred.
It's unclear whether patient health information has been compromised, or how long systems will be offline.