Cayuga Medical Center in New York Disrupted by Cyberattack, Operations Restored
Cayuga Medical Center, located in Ithaca, New York, experienced a temporary disruption Tuesday evening following a suspected cyberattack that affected its computer systems. The incident, which began around 8 p.m., prompted the hospital to halt emergency room admissions and reroute ambulances to other facilities under a temporary diversion order. Normal operations began resuming at 10:45 p.m., with hospital spokesperson Melissa Tourtellotte confirming that the center was in "recovery mode" by 11:30 p.m. While new patients were being admitted again, some systems remained offline as hospital staff worked to restore full functionality.
During the outage, staff resorted to manual processes, including using paper records to check in patients, creating delays in the emergency room. Some patients left without being seen, though one planned transfer to another hospital was reportedly unrelated to the cyberattack. The motive and nature of the attack remain unclear, and officials have not disclosed whether patient data was compromised. The incident highlights the vulnerabilities of healthcare facilities to cyber threats and underscores the critical role of cybersecurity in hospital operations.