Tenet Healthcare Corporation recently experienced a cybersecurity incident in April 2022, which resulted in a temporary disruption to a subset of acute care operations.
The report from Tenet comes on the heels of telephone and computer problems occurring at St. Mary’s Medical Center and Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach Florida, that were reported by WPTV NewsChannel 5. Tenet health is the parent company for both of the medical centers.
Patients and staff have contacted WPTV NewsChannel 5 expressing concerns about patient care tied to limits of electronic charting and their inability to communicate by telephone.
Patients report doctors and nurses must leave the hospital to use their phones because the devices don’t work properly inside.
Following the incident the company says it immediately suspended user access to impacted information technology applications, executed extensive cybersecurity protection protocols, and quickly took steps to restrict further unauthorized activity.
Tenet says efforts to restore impacted information technology operations continue to make important progress.
“While there was temporary disruption to a subset of acute care operations, the company’s hospitals remained operational and continued to deliver patient care safely and effectively, utilizing well-established back-up processes,” the company says. “At this time, critical applications have largely been restored and the subset of impacted facilities has begun to resume normal operations.”
In parallel, the company immediately launched an investigation of the incident, which is currently ongoing. The company is taking additional measures to protect patient, employee, and other data, as appropriate, in response to this incident.
“Tenet is grateful to its physicians, nurses and staff for their dedication to safely care for patients as the company works to resolve this matter,” the company says.
