Capital Health is experiencing network outages in what the health system believes to be a possible cyberattack.
The system, which has the Capital Medical Center-Hopewell hospital in Pennington and a hospital in Trenton, expects to operate with limitations for at least the next week.
The cybersecurity incident earlier in the week of Dec. 2 has impacted the system’s services and Capital Health currently does not have any information on whether patients, employees or financial data are exposed from the apparent cyberattack.
“All Capital Health ERs remain open to those needing emergency care and our teams continue to provide the appropriate treatment for their medical condition. Both hospitals continue to admit and treat patients who need inpatient care and services,” Capital Health released on their website.
“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.”
According to Capital Health, surgical surgeries are being prioritized based on a patient’s critical nature and the urgency of the case.
The Capital Medical Group practices, also LIFE and CARES are still open for patients to visit.
Since becoming aware of the cybersecurity incident earlier in the week, Capital Health has been working with law enforcement and third-party experts.
“We continue to care for patients in both hospitals, including our Emergency Rooms, in our practices, and at all other locations under established protocols for system downtimes where necessary,” Capital Health added.
“We are prioritizing safe patient care, while working to restore the network and address the impact of this disruption.”
This apparent cyberattack on the Capital Health system is one of many that have impacted health and hospital systems across the country.
A report and research that has been published by the Jornal of American Medical Association states that the number of American hospitals hit with cyberattacks doubled each from 2016 through 2021.
Those attacks more than doubled from 43 to 91 during that period and exposed the personal health information of 42 million patients.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available