Scripps Health IT System Remains Offline After Weekend Cyberattack

San Diego CA

04 May, 2021

10:35 PM

Description

By City News Service, Times of San Diego May 3, 2021 A weekend cyberattack that left Scripps Health's systems down continued to plague the San Diego-based healthcare system Monday, leaving many people with upcoming appointments uncertain and no concrete timeline for recovery. According to a statement posted on its social media pages, Scripps technical teams were working to resolve the "information technology security incident" first detected late Saturday. Details on the nature of the attack were not disclosed, though Scripps indicated it has notified law enforcement "and the appropriate governmental organizations." Outpatient urgent care centers, Scripps HealthExpress locations and Emergency Departments remain open for patient care and "established back-up processes, including offline documentation methods" were being used with its online systems down, according to Scripps. "We want to reassure our patients that our physicians and employees are well-trained and thoroughly prepared to respond to this sort of situation so that we can continue to care for the community's health care needs," according to the company. Scripps said some Monday appointments were postponed as a result. "We are working on how best to notify these patients about the need to reschedule," Scripps Health said in its statement. Those seeking information regarding their appointments can call 1-800-SCRIPPS. The healthcare system's website remained down as of Monday afternoon. On the healthcare system's social media pages, many users left comments asking whether or not their appointments scheduled for this week would be postponed in the wake of the attack. A Scripps Health representative responding to the comments indicated users would be informed via private messages on how to proceed. One user asked whether they should be concerned over their personal information being compromised due to the attack. A Scripps representative responded, "We are still in the process of assessing the extent of this attack. If any of our patients' information was compromised, we will be reaching out to them." Times of San Diego is an independent online news site covering the San Diego metropolitan area. Our journalists report on politics, crime, business, sports, education, arts, the military and everyday life in San Diego. No subscription is required, and you can sign up for a free daily newsletter with a summary of the latest news.