ATHOL – A network outage that closed the emergency department and impacted other systems at Heywood Hospital and Athol Hospital since Sunday has been determined to be a “cybersecurity incident,” the company stated in a social media post.
In a post made to the Heywood Hospital Facebook page on Thursday, the company said it is working with third-party cybersecurity experts to assess the situation and restore full functionality as soon as possible.
“Upon discovery, we immediately activated our response protocols and took affected systems offline to protect our network and patients,” the company stated.
Attempts to reach the hospital for comment have been unsuccessful. It is unknown at this time what caused the outage.
The post added that while certain systems are not available, both Athol and Heywood hospitals “are open and safely caring for patients.”
Patients with scheduled appointments with a Heywood Medical Group provider this week are recommended to use the Athena portal at https://192-1.portal.athenahealth.com/ to communicate.
Those unable to access the Athena portal can use the answering service, which will deliver messages to the provider.
Disruptions to the phone and internet were first reported Sunday, prompting the hospital to enter a Code Black Diversion, during which ambulances were diverted to other hospitals and the emergency department was closed, though patients could still be screened to determine the level of care needed.
“Protecting your safety and trust remains our top priority,” the company stated. “We will continue to provide updates as we learn more.”