LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — An "IT issue" has been causing problems this week at hospitals run by CommonSpirit Health, including CHI Saint Joseph in Lexington. According to an NBC News report, the issue is suspected to be a ransomware attack.
In a statement emailed to LEX 18 today, a CHI Saint Joseph Health spokesperson said, "CHI Saint Joseph Health's parent company CommonSpirit Health is managing an IT issue. Our IT teams have taken some of our systems offline, which is impacting some of our facilities,"
We talked with a patient's wife, who asked us not to use her name or specify what procedure her husband needed to protect their privacy. She told us staff at Saint Joseph in Lexington weren't able to access her husband's medical records. She said he was set to have a procedure to address an ongoing condition this week, but it was rescheduled. She said his condition worsened yesterday and they tried to go to St. Joseph's emergency room.
"They made us aware when we went in that they were doing everything by paper and pen and it would take a little while, it would take a little longer. We were assuming two or three hours, max, that we'd be waiting in the ER," she said.
The woman said they waited for eight hours and then went to another hospital outside Lexington to have the issue addressed.
"Everybody was very gracious to us. They were working incredibly hard under unusual circumstances. Everybody did what they could and I think they were going above and beyond to try to do what they could," she said.
The woman said, while she knows the staff is doing their best, there should be another solution to keep people from waiting so long.
"It's a terrible situation. I have a lot of empathy for the staff. I feel bad for the hospital, but patient care comes first and if you can't do good patient care, you need to figure out something else," she said.
In that statement from the hospital, the spokesperson acknowledged the headaches this has caused.
"We are committed to ensuring patient safety and our caregivers are continuing to provide patients with the same compassionate care they always have. Our hospitals remain open and we encourage anyone experiencing an emergency to seek medical attention immediately. We did, however, make some temporary adjustments, including rescheduling some elective procedures and surgeries, but those have since resumed. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience."
"We recognize this is a frustrating time for our patients and staff and appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. We are grateful to our staff and physicians, who are doing everything possible to minimize the impact to our patients."
