Kettering Health hit with ransomware attack: media reports

A cyberattack is causing a system-wide technology outage at Kettering Health and its network of more than a dozen medical centers in Ohio.

In a statement posted to its website Tuesday morning, Kettering Health said it was experiencing a “cybersecurity incident resulting from unauthorized access” to its network.

The hospital network said it has “taken steps to contain and mitigate this activity and is actively investigating and monitoring the situation.”

Kettering canceled elective inpatient and outpatient procedures at its facilities today, and procedures will be rescheduled for a later date, the hospital network said in its statement. Call centers also are experiencing an outage and may not be accessible, the organization said.

Kettering said emergency rooms and clinics are open and continuing to see patients.

Kettering Health, which has 15,000 employees and 1,800 physicians, operates 14 medical centers and more than 120 outpatient facilities.

It also appears that the network outage impacted clinicians’ access to the electronic health record system and patients’ medical records.

Kettering Health said the “system-wide technology outage” limited the ability to access certain patient care systems across the organization.

 “We have procedures and plans in place for these types of situations and will continue to provide safe, high-quality care for patients currently in our facilities,” the organization said.

In the event of a network outage, hospitals typically revert to downtime procedures which typically require clinicians to use manual processes for documentation.

“Our leadership is working with multiple teams to restore services quickly and securely. We will continue to update the community as new information emerges,” the organization said.

CNN reported that Kettering Health was hit with a ransomware attack, according to a ransom note recovered at the scene and viewed by CNN reporters.

“Your network was compromised, and we have secured your most vital files,” the ransom note says. The note threatens to leak data allegedly stolen from Kettering Health online unless the health network begins negotiating an extortion fee, the news outlook reported.

The Dayton Daily News also reported the hospital system is dealing with a ransomware attack, according to anonymous sources. Hackers appear to be threatening to destroy data and publicly publish sensitive data on the dark web if hospital officials don’t reach out and negotiate within 72 hours, according to information shared with the Dayton Daily News by an anonymous source.

The Greater Dayton-Area Hospital Association (GDAHA) confirmed that Kettering Health is diverting medics from local fire departments, local news network WHIO TV reported.

Greater Miami Valley EMS Council also posted on its Facebook page that Kettering emergency departments are diverting ambulances to other facilities.

Premier Health, which also operates hospitals in the Miami Valley region of southwest Ohio, is alerting its employees it has called a “code yellow” because of the ransomware attack at Kettering Health and is warning of a potentially significant increase in patient volumes in coming hours and days because of patients being diverted, the Dayton Daily News reported.