Ascension cyberattack a 'nightmare': Medication, testing problems hurt patients, health care workers say

DETROIT – More than two weeks after the May 8 ransomware attack that took down the computer network across the nation's biggest Catholic health system, employees at Ascension's Michigan hospitals told the Free Press earlier this week they don't know when all of its tech systems will be restored.

Patients are paying the price, two Ascension doctors and a registered nurse told the Free Press on the condition of anonymity out of fear that they could lose their jobs.

"It's so, so dangerous," the nurse said.

Medical orders for lab work, imaging tests and prescriptions still were being written on paper and faxed to various parts of the hospitals and to doctors' offices as of Monday, the workers said.

That has led to hourslong delays for testing even for the most critically ill patients – and no results at all for some people who have undergone outpatient testing at Ascension imaging centers.

"We are waiting four hours for head CT (scan) results on somebody having a stroke or a brain bleed," the nurse said of Ascension St. John Hospital on Detroit's east side. "We are just waiting. I don't know why they haven't at least paused the ambulances and accepting transfers because we physically ... don't have the capacity to care for them right now."

St. Louis-based Ascension did not respond by email or phone to questions from the Free Press about the ongoing problems caused by the ransomware attack or concerns employees raised about patient care while its computer network is disrupted. A nonprofit health system, Ascension has 140 hospitals and 40 senior care facilities across 19 states and the District of Columbia and 134,000 employees.

In some cases, what are supposed to be unique medical record numbers assigned to patients when they register in the emergency department at Ascension St. John have been given to more than one patient at a time.

Because of that, the nurse told the Free Press she couldn't be confident that a patient's blood test results actually were his own.

"If you have to come here, come," she said of St. John Hospital. But, she added, if there is any other option for medical care during the computer outage, "absolutely do not bring anybody here."

The health care workers who spoke to the Free Press said the problems are widespread in the Ascension system.

Nurses and physicians are using Google documents and text messages as an unofficial digital workaround, but still are losing track of patients, an emergency department doctor told the Free Press. "They are texting me to find out where the patient went," he said. "They don't even know where the patient is going or if they've been admitted. People are getting lost.

"The pharmacy is getting requests for patient medications and they have no idea where the patient is in the hospital. Some of the attending physicians are putting in orders for medications, somewhat dangerous medications, and we have no idea if the medications are actually being administered."

Ascension said earlier it is working with Mandiant, a cybersecurity consulting company, to investigate and help determine what information, if any, was compromised in the cyberattack. It launched a dedicated website last week to post updates about the cybersecurity breach, but as of Tuesday morning the most recent post about the Michigan region was dated May 15.

In that update, the health system wrote: "All Ascension Michigan hospitals, physician offices, and care sites across the state remain open and operational. Despite the challenges posed by the recent ransomware incident, patient safety continues to be our utmost priority. Our dedicated doctors, nurses, and care teams are demonstrating incredible thoughtfulness and resilience as we utilize manual and paper based systems during the ongoing disruption to normal systems."

However, during the disruption caused by the ransomware attack on the network's computer systems, the health system asked patients to:

Bring notes on symptoms, health history and a list of current medications, including prescription numbers or bottles to any medical appointments, tests or hospital visits.

Ask their doctors to send prescriptions to other pharmacies because "Ascension Rx retail pharmacies in Michigan cannot fill prescriptions."

Be understanding that some diagnostic imaging and testing may be delayed and appointments may need to be rescheduled.

Ascension pharmacies shut down

Chris Short, a disabled veteran from Michigan, said he had to ration his medicine when Ascension shut down its pharmacy services last week as a result of the cybersecurity attack.

He also had to cancel an out-of-town work trip to sort it out and get his prescriptions transferred. Short takes controlled substances to manage post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and chronic pain.

"These are critical meds that I can't be without because of withdrawal problems and everything," said Short, who is 43 and served in the Air Force and other federal agencies. He has spinal damage, and also dealt with the trauma of losing colleagues to suicide when he was enlisted.

His doctor had to revoke the existing prescriptions and write new ones. CVS and Walgreens didn't have his medicine in stock, he said, and "I couldn't rely on the Ascension pharmacy to do anything."

Eventually, Short said he got his prescriptions filled at a nearby Meijer store. But now, he said he's worried about all of his care at Ascension properties.