Less than two months after Schneider Regional Medical Center officials declared that the hospital had recovered from an attack on its computer systems, it has been hit again.
Tina Comissiong, chief executive officer at SRMC, told The Government Hospital and Health Facilities Corporation Territorial Board members Wednesday that the attack came to light on Sunday. She added that recovery would be much faster because of measures taken since the first attack.
SRMC Vice President of Information Systems Brandon Richardson said he expected hospital systems to return to normal early next week.
Hospitals commonly rely on computer systems to manage patient records, inventory, and billing information, as well as to perform diagnostic tests like CT scans.
Board chair Christopher Finch called the situation a “sort of conundrum” as he noted that more and more medical activities are conducted online.
Comissiong said ransomware attackers used to target financial institutions, but the number one target recently has been medical institutions. She said the FBI and Interpol had been called in to assist in finding who had been attacking the hospital system and demanding ransom.
Board member Jerry Smith asked Comissiong what was being done to protect the information of hospital patients. She answered that an improved firewall had been installed and added virus protection. She said, “We want citizens to trust us.”
The first attack was initiated by an employee opening a suspicious email. She said employees were being trained on what to watch for so an unauthorized character wouldn’t be allowed into the system. She added that despite the attacks, the hospital was able to offer all its regular services.
Finch told The Source, “No ransom money was paid in either attack. We never considered paying.”
The rest of her report was positive. She said collections were up, and an amnesty program initiated early this year brought in $250,000. In conjunction with the Division of Personnel, the hospital is kicking off customer service training.
Patients entering the emergency room often complain about how long they must wait for care. Comissiong said the staff is working to eliminate these long waits.
The board approved the reappointment of two doctors for medical privileges at the Gov. Juan Luis Hospital — Dr. Brian Bacot for orthopedic care and Dr. Samuel Ogle for general surgery. Two diagnostic imaging/teleradiology specialists, Dr. Zophia Martinez and Dr. Jonathan Friedman, were approved for initial medical staff privileges.
The board approved Sarah Auchincloss, a family nurse practitioner, for an initial one-year appointment at SRMC on St. Thomas.
Also, for the St. Thomas hospital, the board approved reappointing three medical specialists for three-year periods: Edward Flottman, an active nurse practitioner; Dr. Trevor Smith, a psychiatrist; and Dr. Paul Nataloni, an anesthesiologist.
