Source 1 | 2023-01-24
“St. Margaret’s Health has temporarily suspended operations at its hospital in Peru, Illinois, as its leadership could not “find nor financially support” a new provider for its emergency room department. A cyberattack on St. Margaret’s Health’s Spring Valley Hospital and impacts of COVID-19 are cited as driving forces behind the decision.“
“The Spring Valley branch was struck by a cyberattack on Feb 22, 2021, prompting the launch of electronic health record downtime procedures and a complete enterprise network shutdown that lasted for several weeks. All web-based operating systems, such as email and the patient portal, were also brought offline. “
“Patient care continued without interruption, due to its previously implemented and practiced downtime procedures. However, the hospital was forced to divert its diagnostic imaging procedures to another hospital branch to ensure accuracy of scans. According to the letter sent to employees, these outages contributed to the hospital’s ongoing financial constraints. “
“The hospital has also struggled to “attract enough staff to continue to operate both hospitals.” As a result of these compounding factors, the hospital will no longer have ER physician coverage at its SMH-Peru branch beginning on Jan. 28 as hospitals aren’t legally allowed to operate without a fully staffed emergency room. “
Guarding Against Ransomware
Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure
SecuLore provides Managed Detection and Response (MDR) to protect our nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber threats. Our expertise is built on deep knowledge of 9-1-1 technology, cyberwarfare, and ethical hacking, ensuring the highest level of cybersecurity for public safety agencies.