Cyberattack Suspected at Kansas Hospital as System Outage Disrupts Patient Care

Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital, located in El Dorado, Kansas, is investigating a suspected cyberattack after “anomalous activity” was detected on its network, prompting a system-wide outage. The disruption has left patients unable to schedule critical appointments, and a third-party cybersecurity firm has been brought in to assist with the investigation and recovery efforts. Hospital officials said they will notify patients if personal or medical data was compromised, but have not provided a timeline for service restoration. Technical details of the breach remain undisclosed as the investigation continues.

The incident places Susan B. Allen among a growing list of U.S. healthcare organizations hit by cyberattacks in recent months. In July, Cookeville Regional Medical Center in Tennessee reported a breach involving unauthorized foreign access. In June, Central Maine Healthcare became the third hospital group in that state targeted within a week, following outages at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor and St. Mary’s Health System in Lewiston. Elsewhere, ransomware attacks crippled operations at Kettering Health in Ohio and Esse Health in Missouri, while Frederick Health in Maryland was forced to divert emergency care. Analysts warn that regional and midsize providers—often lacking robust cyber defenses—are increasingly targeted for their sensitive data, urgency of care, and likelihood of ransom payment.