Radiology services sidelined as U.S. hospital is hurt by ransom attack
Cyberattackers seeking ransom from a nonprofit hospital in West Virginia won’t be getting any money, but the hospital will have to work with paper and pens until it can build an entirely new computer network.
Officials at 267-bed Princeton Community Hospital tell the local newspaper, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, they can get by without interruption to most clinical services—except one.
“The one area in which we are experiencing some delays in being able to process information is radiology for non-emergent patients,” the hospital’s vice president of patient care tells the outlet. (Initial report here.) “Those cases have been spread out and/or deferred for non-emergency radiology requests.”
The crime was part of the global “Petya” attack that has disrupted operations at major corporations and other organizations around the world.
The victims include at least two hospitals in Pennsylvania that seem not to have been as adversely affected as Princeton Community Hospital.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.