Doctors Hospital has confirmed its IT systems were hit by a ransomware attack, but that no patient records had been compromised.
The hospital said IT experts, led by Patrick Turbide, its director of information technology, activated its cybersecurity incident plan as soon as a problem was suspected, and contained the incident.
Officials at the hospital added that patient care had continued uninterrupted despite the scare.
A spokeswoman said, “All patient information is securely stored on a non-Microsoft Windows proprietary platform, which was not impacted by the attack.”
Third-party and service-provider data were also protected from security breaches.
“As an added precaution we have been restoring affected systems in carefully managed phases to ensure a secure environment before resuming full operations,” the hospital said, adding that ransomware attacks against healthcare organisations had become common as hospitals were seen as soft targets.
But staff said the risk had been recognised and Doctors Hospital had invested in systems to protect sensitive patient details.
Dr. Yaron Rado, the chairman of the hospital board, said, “The safety of our patients – both their health and their personal information – is our highest priority.
“We are grateful for the dedication of our team and the swift actions taken to protect our patients, staff and community.”
Systems at the healthcare organisation’s other locations – a satellite clinic at The Strand and Integra Healthcare in Grand Pavilion – had also been secured “out of an abundance of caution”.
The hospital said operations were expected to return to normal by the end of the day Monday.