Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health said an IT security issue is causing disruption at some of its facilities.
The large Catholic hospital system has taken certain systems offline, such as electronic health records, as a precaution. CommonSpirit Health has 140 hospitals in 21 states. While it is headquartered in Chicago, it does not have facilities in Illinois.
The Des Moines Register reported the incident occurred Monday and forced ambulances to bypass the city’s Mercy One Medical Center emergency department. The Associated Press in a report called the issue an "apparent cyberattack."
"Our facilities are following existing protocols for system outages and taking steps to minimize the disruption," CommonSpirit Health said in a statement. "We take our responsibility to ensure the security of our IT systems very seriously. As a result of this issue, we have rescheduled some patient appointments. Patients will be contacted directly by their provider and/or care facility if their appointment is impacted."
