McLaren Confirms Cyberattack Across Its 13 Michigan Hospitals and Physician Network
Cyberattack Overview
McLaren Health Care, a prominent health system based in Grand Blanc, Michigan, has confirmed a significant cyberattack that has disrupted operations across its 13 hospitals, surgery, infusion, and imaging centers. This incident also affects its network of 113,000 medical providers throughout Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. David Jones, a spokesperson, revealed that the disruption began early Monday but did not specify if it involved ransomware or if it was related to a similar attack last year by the BlackCat/AlphV ransomware gang.
Impact on Healthcare Services
The cyberattack has crippled some parts of McLaren's technology platforms, leading to significant operational challenges. For a short time, ambulances were diverted from McLaren Port Huron Hospital, and some appointments had to be canceled because physicians couldn't access essential radiology reports, lab test results, or orders for additional testing and procedures. Despite these challenges, McLaren's emergency departments remain operational, and most surgeries and procedures continue to be performed.
Response and Mitigation Efforts
Upon discovering the cyberattack, McLaren's hospitals and outpatient clinics quickly instituted downtime procedures to ensure care delivery within their facilities. The information technology team is currently working with external cybersecurity experts to analyze the attack and mitigate its impacts. Several IT systems are still operating in a downtime mode while efforts are underway to fully restore functionality.
Patient and Employee Data
At this time, McLaren has not determined if any patient or employee data was compromised. In previous incidents, cyberattacks have led to data breaches, exposing the protected health data of patients and affecting the ability to provide healthcare. In response to this attack, McLaren has advised patients to bring paper copies of their current medications, printed physician orders, and recent lab test results to all appointments.
Previous Cyberattacks
In late August 2023, McLaren experienced a similar cyberattack, where the BlackCat/AlphV ransomware gang claimed to have stolen 6 terabytes of data, including the personal information of 2.5 million patients. Cyberattacks are a growing concern in the healthcare sector, with 725 data breaches reported in 2022 alone, exposing over 133 million records containing protected health data, according to the HIPAA Journal.
Ongoing Operations and Recommendations
Despite the current disruption, McLaren's facilities are largely operational and continue to care for their communities. Non-emergent appointments, tests, and treatments are being rescheduled out of an abundance of caution. Patients are urged to keep their previously scheduled appointments unless advised otherwise by their medical provider. The health system is also working with vendor partners and insurance providers to ensure that the supply chain and insurance authorizations for care and treatments are not impacted.
McLaren Health Care remains committed to restoring full functionality to its systems and ensuring the safety and privacy of patient data. The organization continues to train for such disruptions and is grateful for the response from its frontline caregivers and staff during this challenging time.
