Ridgecrest (Calif.) Regional Hospital’s pharmacy temporarily stopped processing new prescriptions and refills amid a Nov. 9 cyber incident that also knocked out the hospital’s phones and computers.
The hospital confirmed the cyber incident in a statement as rumors of a ransomware attack circulated locally. In a statement published by the Ridgecrest Daily Independent, the hospital said it proactively took systems offline to investigate. “This was a manageable event and we will keep the community informed as updates become available,” the hospital said.
Center Professional Pharmacy, part of the hospital system, said in a Facebook post shared by the hospital that an internet outage left it unable to process new prescriptions or refills and limited it to cash transactions. The pharmacy later said its software and electronic payments were working again, but its phones were still down and staff had a backlog to clear, DysruptionHub reported Nov. 10.
The hospital has since reopened its phone lines, and as of Nov. 10, all clinics, including urgent care, and outpatient radiology were open, according to the hospital’s website and Facebook page. The lab draw station was closed Nov. 10. The hospital asked patients to keep scheduled appointments and bring a list of their current medications.
The nonprofit system includes a 25-bed critical access hospital, a 125-bed skilled nursing facility, five primary care clinics, an ambulatory surgery center and ambulance services. It has more than 860 employees, according to its website.
