Two hospitals in the Hudson Valley and Catskills region in New York, fell victim to a cyberattack, which temporarily forced them to divert patients to alternative healthcare facilities.
HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston and Margaretville Hospital, both of which are part of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, along with Mountainside Residential Care Center in Delaware County, experienced disruptions in their computer systems due to the attack.
In an update, the Westchester Medical Center Health Network announced that ambulance diversions had ceased, and by 7 p.m. on Saturday, the hospitals had returned to full operational capacity, resuming patient admissions.
The health network took swift action, shutting down IT systems at the affected facilities to address the cyber threat and ensure the restoration of their secure network. The gradual process of bringing the systems back online began on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.
Emergency medical service (EMS) providers were informed to resume transporting patients to HealthAlliance Hospital and Margaretville Hospital, with the exception of emergency stroke cases, which were temporarily rerouted to other nearby hospitals.
Throughout the patient diversion, HealthAlliance Hospital and Margaretville Hospital remained open, providing care to walk-in patients who were either treated, assessed, and released or stabilized.
More than 50 patients, comprising both emergency department walk-ins and inpatients, were discharged from the two hospitals, while over 40 inpatients were transferred, with most going to WMCHealth’s MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie. Mountainside Residential Care Center, a skilled nursing facility, continued to provide care without disruptions.
Local law enforcement authorities, along with the FBI and an independent cybersecurity firm, have launched an investigation into the cyberattack.
