On Wednesday, Ascension Health announced that it may have experienced a cybersecurity incident leading to disruptions in clinical operations at its facilities in the Birmingham metropolitan area. The system detected unusual activity on select technology network systems on May 8, which they believe was caused by a cybersecurity event.
The affected facilities include St. Vincent’s Birmingham, St. Vincent’s Blount, St. Vincent’s Chilton, St. Vincent’s East, St. Vincent’s St. Clair, and St. Vincent’s One Nineteen. In response to the incident, Ascension Health has initiated an investigation and activated remediation efforts to minimize the impact of the disruption on patient care delivery. Some systems have been interrupted as a result of the ongoing investigation.
The care teams at these facilities are trained to handle such disruptions and have implemented procedures to ensure patient care delivery remains safe and minimally impacted. The disruption has affected clinical operations, and Ascension Health is assessing the impact and duration of the disruption.
Companies that work with Ascension Health were advised to temporarily disconnect from their environment until further notice while the health care system works to determine if any sensitive information has been affected by the situation. If it is determined that sensitive information was compromised, they will notify and provide support to those individuals in accordance with regulatory and legal guidelines. Mandiant, a third-party expert, has been engaged to assist with the investigation, and relevant authorities have also been notified of the incident.
Ascension Health takes cybersecurity seriously and is committed to protecting its patients’ information from unauthorized access or theft. The health care system will continue to update its security measures as needed to prevent future incidents like this one from occurring.
In conclusion, Ascension Health is taking all necessary steps to investigate and resolve the cybersecurity incident that led to disruptions in clinical operations at its facilities in Birmingham metropolitan area