Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Health Network said in a statement Monday afternoon that it continues to make significant gains in the effort to recover from a recent cyberattack event. Much work remains ahead of us, however, and significant disruptions to patient care continue. We deeply appreciate the ongoing patience and support of our patients and communities.
"Thanks to the hard work of our IT team, we have accessed the detailed clinical plans for chemotherapy patients at the University of Vermont Medical Center. These plans are critical to providing patients with their treatment.
"We continue to work on expanding our treatment capacity for patients receiving this care. Some patients will continue to be supported by other facilities.
"The IT team was also able to restore servers that control many of the phones at the UVM Medical Center. The restoration of the VOIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol, phone system to normal operations will improve our ability to communicate with patients. There may still be some challenges, however, and patients can call 802-847-8888 if they are having difficulty reaching providers.
"We have accessed patient schedules for all Network hospitals through the weekend. Patients are encouraged to continue to bring as much information with them as they can, including current medications and any after-visit summaries they have access to.
"With the help of the Vermont Army National Guard, our IT team has made progress on scanning thousands of end-user devices for malware or viruses. That effort will continue this week.
"The UVM Health Network will continue to provide systems and patient service updates when they are available."
Cyberattack: Information & Updates
During the week of October 25, the UVM Health Network experienced a confirmed cyberattack affecting some of our systems. While we have well-practiced standby procedures in place to continue providing safe care, the attack has caused variable impacts on services at our affiliate organizations. Please see status updates below for information on how you may be impacted.
Quick action was taken to protect patient information, following emergency procedures. We are working with state and federal law enforcement to determine the full scope of this attack. If any personal information has been compromised, we will notify those impacted and follow established protocols.
Latest Service Status by Affiliate:
Updated November 8th at 2 pm.
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.
- 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.
- Our phones are working at our clinics and around the organization. There may still be some glitches with the system. If you are having trouble getting through to your doctor’s office, please call 802-847-8888.
Ambulatory (Outpatient) Visits
- We have limited access to patient data. 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
Cardiology
- Cardiology testing appointments scheduled for November 5, 6, and 9, 2020 for Echocardiograms and Nuclear Stress Tests have been canceled.
- Appointments for Exercise Tolerance Test and Cardiac Implanted Device checks are being performed. Please call 802-847-4600 to confirm your appointments.
Interventional Pain
- We are not currently able to do interventional pain procedures in the Interventional Pain Clinic at 62 Tilley Drive. Patients should call the clinic at 802-847-3737 with questions.
Laboratory
- The outpatient lab collection site at the ACC will remain open for urgent/emergency collections. Patients MUST arrive with a paper order. Hours are Monday – Friday, 7:00 am - 6:00 pm, Saturday & Sunday 7:00 am - 1:00 pm. Outpatient lab collections sites at the Fanny Allen campus, Blair Park and UHC will be closed until further notice.
- 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.
MyChart
- There is no access to our MyChart patient portal.
Outpatient Infusion – Non-Chemotherapy
- Patients receiving an infusion on Shepherdson 4, please call 802-847-6226 before coming in for their appointment.
Oncology (Hematology Oncology, Radiation Oncology or Surgical Oncology)
- Patients coming in for cancer care should call first to confirm their appointments.
Pharmacy
- Retail, Specialty, Mail Order and Home Infusion Pharmacies are operational and offering all services.
Radiology
- We no longer have the ability to accommodate any outpatients in the department of radiology, and must divert outpatient requests to UVM Health Network affiliates. Until our systems are back online, this includes breast imaging - every type of mammogram, breast ultrasound screening and biopsies at all locations within the University of Vermont Medical Center. Our Imaging staff have limited access to patient data, but are reviewing schedules daily and contacting patients for those they know about. We apologize for this inconvenience – we’re doing everything we can to share this information with our patients.
Sleep Program
- We are cancelling all sleep studies at this time.
Surgeries & Procedures
- We are open for emergency care, including traumas, strokes, heart attacks, and for other seriously ill adults and children.
- We are open for urgent and emergency cardiac catherization.
- 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.
NOTE: UVM Medical Center patients, if you are having issues contacting your physician or clinic, please call 802-847-8888.
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.
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.
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.
Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital – Plattsburgh, NY
CVPH is asking all patients with appointments at these physician offices to call 24 hours in advance of their appointment. This request is for all appointments with physician offices beginning Thursday, Nov. 5 until further notice.
On Nov. 5, our practices’ access to appointment schedules and our ability to send a reminder call for your appointment will be temporarily restricted, so the advanced call will help reduce wait times by ensuring we’re ready for you on arrival. If you are unable to call 24 hours prior to your appointment, you will still be seen.
To keep call volume steady and manageable, we are asking you to wait until 24 hours before your appointment and to call during our normal business hours (8am – 4:30 pm). If you receive voicemail, please leave your name, date of birth, date of appointment and return phone number. Your call is very important and will be returned promptly. For security purposes, we are unable to receive email at this time, so please be sure to call.
As always, please bring your list of medications with you to your appointment.
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.
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.
The latest updates and information can be found at www.uvmhealth.org/cyberattack. 844-886-4325
The University of Vermont Medical Center