Ascension St. John is experiencing technical glitches

“We have retained Mandiant, an outside expert, to assist with the investigation and remediation process and notified the appropriate authorities. Together, we are working to fully investigate what information, if any, was affected by the situation.” “If we determine that sensitive information was affected, we will notify and assist those individuals in accordance with all relevant regulatory and legal guidance,” it said Explanation.

One of Tulsa’s largest health systems is grappling with business interruptions while it investigates a possible cybersecurity breach.

Asked to confirm reports from patients that Ascension St. John Health System is diverting or transferring patients throughout the Tulsa region, a hospital spokeswoman said she was not authorized to respond.

However, an EMSA spokesperson confirmed that local ambulances were redirected away from Ascension St. John facilities.

“Diversions to the emergency room happen almost every day in different hospitals for a variety of reasons,” he said.

But regarding reports that St. John Medical Center and Ascension’s suburban hospitals are currently operating without access to the Internet, computerized medical records and telephone lines, the hospital’s spokeswoman released this written statement to the Tulsa World:

“On Wednesday, May 8, we observed unusual activity on select technology network systems. We responded immediately, beginning our investigation and taking our remedial action. Access to some systems has been interrupted while this process continues.

“Our care teams are trained to deal with these types of disruptions and have procedures in place to ensure patient care continues to be safe and disrupted as minimally as possible.”

The use of online technology across healthcare has made hospitals an increasingly common target for thieves seeking to hold system data and networks hostage and pay ransom for it.

Last fall, Hillcrest HealthCare System had to rebook or reroute patients after its parent company Ardent suffered a ransomware attack.

Officials at Ascension, the St. Louis-based Catholic health care organization that took over operations of the former locally managed St. John system in 2013, said patients will be notified if an investigation finds the newly discovered “unusual activity” that is sensitive information was affected.

“We have notified the relevant authorities and are working to fully investigate what information, if any, may have been affected by the situation. If we determine that sensitive information has been affected, we will notify and assist those individuals in accordance with all relevant regulatory and legal guidelines,” said Ascension St. John spokeswoman.