Capital Health hospitals face a significant cybersecurity incident, resulting in the rescheduling of surgeries and limited system functionality.
Capital Health hospitals, including the Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton and Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell in Pennington, had to reschedule certain elective surgeries and procedures. The company stated that it is presently unavailable for outpatient radiology, and they are in the process of rescheduling neurophysiology and non-invasive cardiology testing.
Despite IT teams working around the clock, the hospitals will continue operating with system limitations, and a complete resolution is expected to take at least another week. The company, overseeing smaller facilities in the region, emphasizes that all Capital Health Emergency rooms remain open for emergency care, with medical treatment ongoing.
Capital Health acknowledges a cybersecurity incident causing network outages, noting a similar experience in other healthcare organizations across the country. The company’s Information Technology team has been actively assessing the situation, securing data, and working towards restoring system functionality since detecting the incident earlier this week. Authorities have been notified, and collaboration with law enforcement and third-party experts is ongoing.
As of now, there is no confirmation of exposure of patient, employee, or financial data, and patient portals with historical data remain accessible. Capital Health Medical Group practices and other locations, such as LIFE and CARES, continue to operate as usual. The company assures that its team is in contact with and advising affected patients.
The rise of cyberattacks affecting healthcare institutions is evident, with recent reports of Ardent Health Services facing network outages due to a ransomware attack. Speculation on social media points to Black Suit ransomware as the possible culprit.
These attacks on hospitals have become increasingly common, with Tenable’s 2021 Threat Landscape Retrospective revealing that nearly half of US hospitals experienced shutdowns due to ransomware attacks. Some institutions, like a hospital in France and Hospital Clinic de Barcelona in Spain, have fallen victim to ransomware attacks, leading to significant disruptions in medical services.
A University of Minnesota study underscores the severity of ransomware attacks on hospitals, noting that they not only result in a substantial decrease in hospital volume during the initial attack week but also pose life-threatening risks, increasing in-hospital mortality for patients admitted at the time of the attack.
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