A cyberattack last week is continuing to impact operations at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
After announcing that clinics statewide would be closed and elective procedures would be canceled on Monday and Tuesday, UMMC officials provided an update Monday evening, saying the same schedule would apply to Wednesday. Appointments will be rescheduled as soon as possible, the update noted.
UMMC hospitals and emergency departments in Jackson, Grenada, Madison County, and Holmes County will continue operating.
“We apologize for this interruption of our services,” UMMC said on social media. “Teams are working around the clock to restore full operations and help as many people as quickly as we possibly can.”
Those most in need of assistance are encouraged to use a triage line set up by UMMC. The number is (601) 815-0000, and requests for time-sensitive needs – such as medication refills or postoperative care visits – will be prioritized. Patients who call will be prompted to provide their name, callback number, date of birth, who they are trying to reach, reason for calling, along with medication and pharmacy information if needed.
Messages will then be routed to the appropriate person for a return phone call. Return calls could come from non-UMMC numbers.
“Return calls may be delayed as we anticipate a high volume of calls daily from across the state,” the update continued. “Please do not call multiple times. Repeated calls will slow our ability to respond.”
On the morning of Feb. 19, patients and employees at UMMC confirmed that its record system had been shut down, and other systems, including the hospital’s website, some phone lines, and email, were not functioning correctly. Later in the morning, UMMC officials confirmed that a cyberattack was to blame and some networks had been compromised while others had been shut down out of precaution.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security, among other federal and state partners, are working to investigate and restore networks. An official timeline on restoration has not been provided, and it remains unclear whether patients’ private information was accessed by the hackers.
UMMC is one of Mississippi’s largest health care providers, operating seven hospitals – including the state’s largest in Jackson – 35 clinics, and more than 200 telehealth sites statewide.