Jones Memorial Hospital Alerts Patients to Ongoing Cyberattack
University of Rochester Medicine’s Jones Memorial Hospital in Wellsville, NY is currently experiencing a cyberattack that has caused unexpected downtime.
The attack is understood to have started on Wednesday December 27 and has caused disruption to some of its information services. At the time of writing, the nature of the cyberattack is unclear and it has yet to be resolved. The cyberattack is limited to Jones Memorial Hospital. No other locations have been impacted.
While some systems are unavailable, Jones Memorial Hospital has announced on its website that the financial and medical information of its patients does not appear to have been compromised. If the investigation concludes that there has been a breach of health information, patients will be notified accordingly. Further information on the attack will also be posted on the hospital’s website as and when new information becomes available.
The hospital notified law enforcement and the New York State Department of the attack when its systems went down. Hospital IT staff are being assisted by the IT departments at the University of Rochester, St. James Hospital, and Noyes Health to restore all systems back to full functionality.
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Jones Memorial Hospital has prepared for incidents such as this. Emergency procedures are regularly tested, and employees are trained how to respond to cyberattacks and system downtime. Consequently, medical services are continuing to be provided, with information being recorded manually on patient charts while its systems are offline.
However, without access to electronic patient health information, the hospital is advising all patients to bring their insurance card with them, as well as full lists of medications and if possible, details of their medical history.
Systems will be brought back online as soon as is possible, but in the meantime, the hospital is focused on maintaining patient safety and quality of care.
