Ascension hospitals experiencing delays after ransomware attack

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Over the past few days KWTX has gotten multiple reports of longer than normal wait times at Ascension Providence. But we haven’t been able to confirm exactly how long those times are.

Ascension hospitals across the state and nation are experiencing delays due to a ransomware attack, according to the company.

Ascension said it has been in close contact with the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency sharing information on the recent incident. For the time being, Ascension is using pen and paper while it works through this.

People should expect longer than normal wait times for scheduled surgeries, imaging tests and at urgent care facilities.

To help with these delays, patients are encouraged to bring notes on their symptoms and a list of medications they’re taking.

Despite the delays, all Ascension doctor’s offices and care sites are operating at normal business hours. Certain Ascension pharmacies, though, are closed for the time being.

In a statement Ascension said, “while our restoration work continues in earnest, our focus is on restoring systems as safely as possible. While we expect this process will take time to complete, we are making progress and systems are being restored in a coordinated manner at each of our care sites.”

This all comes after a handful of federal agencies, including the FBI, released a joint statement warning health care systems about cyber attacks. They say the Russian group Black Basta has stolen data from various health care organizations across the country and the world.

KWTX hasn’t been able to confirm if this ransomware attack at Ascension was from that same group and we did reach out to Ascension for an on-camera interview. But they referred us to their previous press releases.