Capital Health Experiencing Network Outages Amid Potential Cyberattack

Capital Health, which operates two hospitals in New Jersey and other regional care sites, is experiencing a network outage caused by what it believes to be a cyberattack. The healthcare organization is continuing to care for patients at both hospitals, including emergency rooms, amid system downtime.

Capital Health said it became aware of a cybersecurity incident earlier this week and immediately notified authorities and engaged its information technology team to safeguard data, assess the incident, and regain system functionality.

“Both hospitals continue to admit and treat patients who need inpatient care and services,” Capital Health stated.

“With our continued focus on delivering safe patient care, we made some changes to elective surgical and procedure schedules, but there is now minimal impact on surgical schedules. Outpatient radiology is currently not available, and neurophysiology and non-invasive cardiology testing will be rescheduled.”

It is too soon to tell whether any patient or employee information was exposed during the incident. Patient portals remain available to patients, and patients are being contacted on a case-by-case basis to reschedule procedures if necessary.

“Right now, we cannot say when this issue will be completely resolved, although we expect to operate with system limitations for at least the next week,” the notice continued. “Our team is working around the clock to resolve the issue as quickly and safely as possible.”

The Capital Health incident is the latest in a string of healthcare cyberattacks that surfaced over the past few weeks. Ardent Health Services which owns 30 hospitals and 200 sites of care across six states, recently confirmed that it was hit by a ransomware attack on Thanksgiving Day, November 23.

Upon discovery, Ardent took its network offline and suspended all user access to its information technology applications, including Epic software, corporate servers, and clinical programs. In addition, Ardent hospitals in multiple states were forced to divert ambulances amid the disruptions.

Ardent did not provide a timeline for ending emergency department diversions or for restoring full access to systems.