Ransom attack ‘chaos’ hits Waikato hospitals
The head of the Waikato District Health Board says ‘‘no ransom will be paid’’ to cyber criminals who have launched an attack on information-technology systems and thrown hospitals into turmoil.
The attack crashed phone lines and computers yesterday morning, blocking all IT services except email at the Waikato, Thames, Tokoroa, Te Ku¯ iti and Taumarunui hospitals. All clinical services at those hospitals have been disrupted, elective surgeries had been postponed, and patient notes were inaccessible.
At the time of the Taranaki Daily News deadline last night, the systems had not been resolved.
Waikato DHB chief executive Kevin Snee told that police and external cybersecurity experts were investigating the attack. He said some communications received pointed to a ransomware attack but the DHB was trying to verify that.
‘‘Irrespective of that, no ransom will be paid,’’ he said.
Snee did not know who was behind the incident or whether it was in any way linked to the recent ransomware attack on the Irish health system, which also left hospitals crippled.
He did not know the numbers of elective surgeries that would be delayed across the region. And when asked whether any patient could die as a result of the disruption, Snee said: ‘‘We are ensuring all patients that need urgent care are either treated by us or referred to another hospital.’’
It could be a matter of days before the IT systems were up and running again, Snee said.
Patient notes were unavailable and X-ray images were impossible to send between departments, slowing medical services.
‘‘[This attack] affects the whole system of the way the whole hospital runs.’’
A woman working at Waikato Hospital said the cyber attack caused ‘‘the most stressful day she had ever had’’.
The health worker, whom has agreed not to name, said the hospital was in ‘‘absolute chaos’’.
Workers could not access anything on computers, including all patients’ notes. ‘‘We have patients turning up, and we don’t know who they are there to see ... We can’t go and use [Microsoft] Word and save it because it doesn’t save to anywhere.’’
They had to ask every patient why they had come to hospital and the only method of recording was on pen and paper.
The health board was deferring elective surgeries and urging members of the public to avoid the emergency department for nonlife-threatening conditions.
Samantha Catterall, 21, went to the emergency department yesterday about 11am experiencing pain that was coursing through her body, affecting her ability to walk. Instead of being seen by an ED doctor she was referred to Anglesea Clinic with a voucher.
Snee apologised for the inconvenience and said teams were working extremely hard to get systems back online.
Minister for Health and the GCSB Andrew Little declined to comment on the attack, referring all inquiries to the health board.
The MP for Hamilton East, Labour’s Jamie Strange, said the Waikato DHB had heard of a number of threats aimed at health institutions around the world in terms of cybersecurity.
Strange said he had full confidence in Snee and his team as they worked to find possible solutions.
‘‘We have patients turning up, and we don’t know who they are there to see.’’ Waikato Hospital worker