St. Agnes Ascension Hospital in southwest Baltimore limited services Thursday after an alleged cybersecurity attack. On Wednesday, the incident forced the hospital to declare a “minor disaster,” meaning the emergency department should not accept new patients. Approximately 25% of emergency department visits are by paramedics, with the remainder being walk-ins. | More information: Cyberattack forces major health network to divert ambulances away from hospital “The hospital requested that ambulance traffic be diverted from the ambulance to other nearby hospitals,” the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems said. said Dr. Ted Delbridge, Executive Director of. Ascension released a statement, writing: “At this time, we are continuing to investigate the situation. We responded immediately and began an investigation and remediation efforts. As this process continues, we are continuing to investigate the situation. “Their information technology challenges'' Having had to rely on paper procedures for the past 24 hours, it's taken time to educate people to do things the way they used to. , hospitals are a little less efficient than normal. ” Delbridge told 11 News.St. Dr. Agnes said they will not turn away patients, but hospital officials are encouraging people to seek another emergency department for now. “If I knew their hardships right now and had the option of going to a hospital somewhere else, I would choose that,” Delbridge said. “If there was a compelling reason to go to St. Agnes, or there was a real emergency, and that was the closest place, I would go there right away.”
St. Agnes Ascension Hospital in southwest Baltimore limited services Thursday after an alleged cybersecurity attack.
On Wednesday, the incident forced the hospital to declare a “minor disaster” meaning the emergency department should not accept new patients. Approximately 25% of visits to the emergency department are by paramedics, with the remainder being walk-ins.
| more: Cyberattack causes major medical network to divert ambulances from hospitals
“Hospitals have requested that emergency transport be diverted from the hospital to other nearby hospitals,” said Dr. Ted Delbridge, executive director of the Maryland Emergency Medical Services System Institute.
Ascension released a statement, writing:
“At this time, we are continuing to investigate the situation. We responded immediately and began an investigation and remediation efforts. As this process continues, we are currently investigating the situation. Access has been suspended.”
“The information technology challenges over the past 24 hours have forced us to rely on paper processes, so it's taken time to educate people to do things the way they've always been done, making hospitals a little less efficient. “Typically yes,” Delbridge told 11 News.
St. Agnes said they are not turning away patients, but hospital officials are encouraging people to find another emergency department for now.
“If I knew their challenges now and had a choice to go somewhere else, I would choose to go somewhere else,” Delbridge said. “If there was a compelling reason to go to St. Agnes, or there was a real emergency, and that was the closest place, I would go there right away.”
