Palomar Health Medical Group

History

2024: Problems in hospital operation for two months after cyber attack

On July 18, 2024, the California medical institution Palomar Health Medical Group reported that specialists for two months failed to fully restore the performance of computer systems after a cyber attack. The hacker invasion of the hospital's IT infrastructure occurred in early May 2024.

A notice from Palomar Health Medical Group said the attack was discovered on May 5, 2024. Then the organization's specialists revealed suspicious activity in certain computer systems on the clinic's network. In order to minimize damage, certain services had to be disabled. However, cyber intrusion turned out to be so serious that it was not possible to restore the work of these services for about two and a half months.

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Freepik

We thank you for your patience and understanding due to the unavailability of services. Since the cybersecurity incident, we have been working diligently to restore the full functionality of our systems, the hospital said in a statement.

As of mid-July 2024, Palomar Health Medical Group has restored the functionality of the electronic medical records platform: they have become available to all doctors. In addition, after the failures, the service of making an appointment by phone was launched. Most clinical departments have restored incoming phone calls. Patients can again issue electronic applications for laboratory tests, as well as use the Internet portal.

However, as noted, internal radiology services cannot be restored. Palomar Health Medical Group patients are encouraged to seek help from partner facilities. The medical organization does not specify whether the numerous failures are associated with the implementation of the ransomware.^[1]

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