Florida hospital accepts expectant moms and delays surgeries

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A major regional hospital system based in northern Florida resumed seeing patients at its clinical practices on Monday, days after a security problem forced it to take its IT network offline.

Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, however, was being forced to use paper documentation. On Monday, non-emergency procedures and outpatient procedures were canceled.

According to Sunday’s statement, some emergency room patients were diverted to other hospitals. However, the hospital is accepting pregnant patients.

Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare was the victim of a ransomware attack. On Thursday, information technology systems were shut down as a precaution. It had the hallmarks of such an attack, but the hospital has characterized it as an “IT security issue” that it reported to law enforcement. Victims are often reluctant to confirm ransomware attacks, at least initially.

“Our teams are working around the clock in collaboration with outside consultants to investigate the cause of the event and safely restore all computer systems as quickly as possible,” the statement said. “IT security events take time to investigate and resolve. We expect that it will take time to find out exactly what happened. Our investigation is ongoing.

According to its website, the hospital system is based in Tallahassee and provides health care in 21 counties of northern Florida, southern Georgia, and southern Alabama.