WVU Hospital Locked Down For Hours After Computer System Failure

Information technology specialists at Ruby Memorial Hospital are individually checking more than 14,000 computers on the hospital’s campus after malware or a virus sent the hospital into a lockdown this morning.

The hospital reportedly began experiencing issues with both its clinical and security operating systems just after midnight Tuesday, and around 4 a.m. lost the use of its video monitoring system. That sent the hospital into lockdown for nearly four hours.

West Virginia University Hospitals Director of Public Affairs Amy Johns says even with the loss of the systems, at no point was patient care or security put at risk. During a phone interview, Johns maintained there is also no reason to believe the glitch was the result of an attack on the hospital.

“We have no evidence that patients’ private information or medical records were accessed. This does not appear to be an effort to hack into the system or steal patient—or employee—information,” Johns said.

Johns said security guards were stationed at each entrance during the lockdown to check IDs and doctors and nurses continue to perform their duties the old fashioned way—using paper.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation.