The hacker attack affected hospitals and health services in five US states.

Cyber ​​attack affected the computer systems of several US hospitalswhich forced the closure of some emergency rooms and the rerouting of ambulances, and many primary health care services remained suspended while safety experts worked to determine the extent of the problem and resolve it.

The “information security incident” began on Thursday at a facility operated by Prospect Medical Holdings, headquartered in California and hospitals and clinics in the same state, except Texas, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.

“After learning of this, we shut down our systems to protect them and launched an investigation with the help of external cybersecurity specialists,” the company said in a statement. “While our investigation continues, we are focused on meeting the urgent needs of our patients while working diligently to restore normal operations as quickly as possible.”

In Connecticut, emergency rooms at Rockville General Hospital and Manchester Memorial were closed for most of Thursday, with patients transferred to nearby medical centers.

“We have an international Prospect team that is working and evaluating the impact of the attack on all organizations,” he said in a statement. Gillian Menzel, operations director of the Eastern Connecticut Health Network.

The FBI in Connecticut said in a statement that it is working with “police associates and victims.”but that he could not go into details about the ongoing investigation.

Elective surgeries, outpatient appointments, blood donations and other services have been suspended. And while emergency rooms reopened Thursday afternoon, many outpatient services closed Friday, according to the Eastern Connecticut Health Network, which operates the facility. Patients are contacted personally, according to the network’s website.

Similar breaches have also been reported at other facilities throughout the system.

“Waterbury Hospital application of idle processes, including the use of printed files, until the situation is resolved,” spokeswoman Lauresha Jihani said in a statement. “We are working closely with information security experts to resolve this issue as soon as possible.”

The newspaper reported that in Pennsylvania, the attack affected services at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, and Springfield Hospital. Philadelphia Inquirer.

According to the company’s website, in California, the company has seven hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Messages sent to representatives of these institutions were not answered.

(AP)

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