Vermont National Guard to assist UVM Health Network

The University of Vermont Health Network continues to work on restoring systems impacted by last week's cyberattack event. Our IT team is making steady progress, but we still do not know when all systems will be restored.

We continue to dedicate all available resources to this work. Today, Vermont Governor Phil Scott has deployed the Vermont Army National Guard’s Combined Cyber Response Team 1 to assist our IT team with reviewing thousands of end-user computers and devices.

The deployment of the National Guard will aid our recovery from this incident, and this team’s expert advice and assistance will bolster our network’s operations going forward.

We anticipate additional scheduling challenges to emerge beginning tomorrow when some hospitals and offices across the network will be unable to access appointment schedules. We are urging patients to check our website, at www.uvmhealth.org/cyberattack, for the latest details related to each affiliate. Additionally, patients are encouraged to bring as much information with them as they can to their appointments, including current medications, glucometers and any after-visit summaries they may have printed.

We sincerely apologize for any difficulty or inconvenience this event is causing our patients. Their safety and security remains our priority and will continue to be the basis for our decision-making.

The UVM Health Network will continue to provide systems and patient service updates when they are available. The latest updates and information can be found at www.uvmhealth.org/cyberattack.

Email and the patient portal MyChart are both still down.

Governor Phil Scott said the National Guard team will support ongoing work by UVMHN to review thousands of end-user computers and devices and ensure they are free of any malware or virus.

“I appreciate the work of the UVM Health Network, with support from State agencies and state and federal law enforcement, to respond quickly to this cyberattack, putting patient safety first and steadily restoring systems in a safe and secure manner,” Scott said. “The support of the Guard’s talented and experienced Cyber Response Team will further bolster this important work.”

“We have been working closely with the UVMHN Information Technology team to tailor a support package to best assist them,” said Col. Chris Evans, chief information officer, Vermont Army National Guard. “National Guard Cyber Soldiers are trained IT professionals that come with military and industry backgrounds and training. This diverse training and experience fosters efficient and effective cyber response teams capable of a wide range of technological security tasks.”

The Vermont Army National Guard’s CCRT is made up of Soldiers from 2nd Detachment, 136th Cyber Security Company, and Joint Force Headquarters, Vermont Defensive Cyber Operations Element. The CCRT is able to respond in support of state or federal missions. The CCRT recently participated in Cyber Shield 2020, a national level exercise that is focused on honing abilities to provide cyber support to mission partners, such as UVMHN.

“The UVM Health Network continues to work around the clock to repair our system and deliver the highest quality care to our patients. We are grateful to the Vermont National Guard and Governor Phil Scott's administration for dedicating invaluable resources to our efforts,” said John R. Brumsted, MD, President and CEO of the UVM Health Network. “The deployment of the Vermont National Guard's Combined Cyber Response Team 1 will aid our recovery from this incident, and this team’s expert advice and assistance will bolster our network’s operations going forward. We appreciate the outpouring of support and understanding we have received from our patients and communities. We will continue to dedicate all available resources to this response until our systems are restored.”

Anticipating the potential for support from the Guard, the Governor signed Executive Order 05-20 on Saturday, and the team began its work with UVMHN today.

The latest updates and information on the status of UVMHN’s response can be found at www.uvmhealth.org/cyberattack.

Community Message

UVM Health Network Service Status:

Updated November 4th at 1:30 p.m.

UVM Medical Center – Burlington, VT

The University of Vermont Medical Center is experiencing outages across a number of systems. Impact on patients is as follows:

• Our urgent and emergency care locations are open and we encourage you to seek the care you need.
• Some services and procedures may have been impacted and you will be contacted if your appointment or procedure needs to be postponed. Call your provider's office if you have concerns about an upcoming appointment.
• If you need to schedule a non-urgent appointment or contact us about a non-urgent matter, we ask that you wait until this situation is resolved.

Surgeries & Procedures

• We are open for emergency care. This includes traumas that come in through the Emergency Department, as well as traumas from the region.
• We are open for other types of emergency care, such as strokes, heart attacks, and for other seriously ill adults and children.
• We are also open for other emergency surgeries on a case-by-case basis.
• Some non-urgent elective procedures have been rescheduled and affected patients have been notified.
• All patients coming in for endoscopies should bring with them a current list of medications and their pre- procedure packet to their appointment.

Outpatient (Ambulatory) Visits

• Beginning tomorrow, we will be unable to access appointment schedules and some or all patient information. If you have an appointment, please bring your medication list (or bottles), any prior after visit summary you may have from a previous appointment or a discharge summary if recently discharged from the hospital.
• Patients scheduled for the following tests should call 802-847-2864 before coming in:
  • Exercise induced bronchospasm
  • Cardiopulmonary stress test
  • Methacholine challenge

Oncology (Hematology Oncology, Radiation Oncology & Surgical Oncology)

• Patients coming in for cancer care should call first to confirm their appointments.

Infusion

• Shepherdson 4 Infusion: Patients please call 802-318-7527 before coming in for your appointment.

Laboratory

• Outpatient lab sites will be closed beginning November 4. Our main campus site will remain open for urgent/emergent blood draws only and you must have paper orders with you. Hours are 7am - 6pm.
• All results will be delayed.
• Urgent lab results will be communicated by phone to the ordering provider who will contact you directly.
• Positive COVID-19 test results will be communicated by phone to the ordering provider who will contact you directly. Negative results will be faxed to the ordering provider. If you need results urgently, please request that your provider call the lab customer service phone line.

Interventional Pain

• We are not currently able to do interventional pain procedures in the Interventional Pain Clinic at 62 Tilley Drive. Starting 11/5, we do not have schedules to notify patients that they should not come in for their procedures. Patients should call the clinic at 802-847-3737 with questions.

Radiology

• Breast Imaging: On Wednesday, Nov. 5, breast imaging will be open on a limited basis for preventative screening mammography (all locations) and screening breast ultrasound exams (UHC/1 South Prospect ONLY). If you are scheduled for either of these exams, come to your appointment at the site scheduled. Delays are to be expected. If you are scheduled for any other breast imaging exam, please do not come in at this time unless you were contacted directly. For questions, call 802-847-3443 or 802-847-6625.
• Other Outpatient Radiology: Scans are postponed. If you are scheduled for an appointment we may not be able to access your contact information to reach you. Please do not come in. We will be in touch soon to reschedule.

Sleep Program

• We are cancelling all sleep studies at this time.

Pharmacy

• Retail, Specialty, Mail Order and Home Infusion Pharmacies are operational and offering all services.

MyChart

• There is no access to our MyChart patient portal.

Visit the UVM Medical Center Site

---

Central Vermont Medical Center – Berlin, VT

Central Vermont Medical Center services remain available. Patients visiting practices and clinics should expect slightly longer wait times.

• If you have an appointment at a CVMC practice, please call the practice 24 hours in advance to confirm. This request is for all appointments starting on Thursday November 5 until further notice. To keep call volume steady and manageable, please wait until 24 hours before your appointment begins. For security purposes, we are unable to receive email at this time, so please be sure to call.
• Click here for a list of CVMC practices and phone numbers.
• There is no need to call to confirm hospital services such as surgeries, blood draw, lab and imaging, which are all unaffected by the cyberattack.

Laboratory

• If possible, please bring a written copy of your lab or imaging orders with you to our lab and diagnostic imaging departments. You will receive the written order at your clinic visit.

MyChart Patient Portal

• Access to the MyChart Patient Portal is not currently available. Please note that automated text reminders will not be sent in advance of appointments.

Visit the Central Vermont Medical Center Site

---

Porter Medical Center – Middlebury, VT

Porter Medical Center services remain available. Patients visiting practices and clinics should expect slightly longer wait times.

• Our urgent and emergency care locations are open, and we encourage you to seek the care you need. No access to past patient records.
• If you have an appointment at one of our practices, please call 24 hours in advance of your appointment. To keep call volume steady and manageable, please wait until 24 hours before your appointment begins. For security purposes, email is limited at this time, so please be sure to call.
• If you have any questions about your appointment, view our list of practice locations and phone numbers.

Laboratory

• Please call your providers office before going to the Lab.

MyChart Patient Portal

• Access to the MyChart Patient Portal is not currently available.
• Please note that automated text reminders will not be sent in advance of appointments.

Visit the Porter Medical Center Site

---

Home Health & Hospice – Colchester, VT

We are maintaining all in-home patient care services and all services at McClure Miller Respite House. Electronic communication with the UVM Medical Center has been disrupted by the outage and we are coordinating closely with the UVM Health Network to address this issue. Added safeguards have been put in place to protect our systems from external threats. This will not change patients' experience or how we deliver their care, and we have not experienced any impacts to patient care services.

Visit the Home Health & Hospice Site

---

Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital – Plattsburgh, NY

Our major systems are operational and all of our patient care services are available. Our physician offices are relying on computer downtime procedures - using paper methods to communicate and care for patients. This may result in slight delays.

Safeguard measures have been put in place by our IT Department to protect our systems from external threats. These measures do not affect our patients’ experience. Our focus remains on providing the care our community needs while supporting our affiliate partner, the University of Vermont Medical Center.

Visit the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital Site

---

Alice Hyde Medical Center – Malone, NY

Our major systems are operational and all of our patient care services are available. Please note that our Hospital Patient Portal is down, so you will not be able to access this platform until further notice. Our Physician Practice Patient Portal remains accessible.

Electronic communication with the UVM Medical Center has been disrupted by the outage and we are coordinating closely with the UVM Health Network to address this issue. Added safeguards have been put in place to protect our systems from external threats. This will not change patients' experience or how we deliver care. We have not experienced any impacts to patient care services.

Visit the Alice Hyde Medical Center Site

---

Elizabethtown Community Hospital – Elizabethtown, NY

Our major systems are operational and all of our patient care services are available. Electronic communication with the UVM Medical Center has been disrupted by the outage and we are coordinating closely with the UVM Health Network to address this issue. Added safeguards have been put in place to protect our systems from external threats. This will not change patients' experience or how we deliver care. We have not experienced any impacts to patient care services.

Visit the Elizabethtown Community Hospital Site