Kettering (Ohio) Health has confirmed that a ransomware attack is behind the IT outage that has disrupted the health system over the past week.
Here are six things to know:
1. The 14-hospital system believes the cyberattack involves ransomware, John Weimer, DNP, RN, senior vice president and leader for incident command at Kettering Health, told WLWT for a May 26 story. But he said the organization had not paid a ransom.
2. Kettering Health took IT systems offline and went into downtime procedures May 20 in response to the incident, canceling elective inpatient and outpatient procedures. The health system’s call center also went dark.
3. In a May 26 update, the health system told patients to come to scheduled appointments and surgeries unless notified otherwise.
4. Kettering Health brought its radiology equipment back online May 25, sooner than expected, WDTN reported May 26.
5. The health system also set up temporary telephone lines May 23 for urgent clinical needs.
6. Kettering Health leaders said recovery from these types of IT incidents typically takes about 10 to 21 days. “We are working to be on the lower end of that scale,” Dr. Weimer told WLWT.
