UMMC Clinics Reopen After Ransomware, Lafayette County Patients to Be Rescheduled

UMMC clinics statewide resumed normal operations and scheduled appointments Monday, March 2, after a ransomware attack that disrupted network systems and took the Epic electronic health record offline in late February. The health system said patient MyChart access returned over the weekend after the EHR came back online Saturday, and phone and internet service to clinic operations have been restored.

UMMC posted an update on Facebook on Feb. 27 saying, “We can access patient records, so UMMC clinics statewide will resume normal operations and scheduled appointments on Monday.” The post added, “Also on Monday, clinics will begin reaching out to patients to reschedule appointments that were cancelled. Clinics will be open extended hours and extra days to accommodate patients as soon as possible.” Reports differ on when the attack began, with several accounts citing Feb. 19 and at least one reporting Feb. 21; UMMC and federal investigators have not released a reconciled incident timeline.

Throughout the disruption UMMC said hospitals and emergency departments remained open, including its Jackson facilities and hospital locations serving Grenada, Madison County and Holmes County. With MyChart functioning again, the system also reported that regular patient call center operations resumed and that a temporary UMMC Triage Line would remain available for a few days before calls transition back to the staffed call center, at 601-815-0000 for time-sensitive needs.

Clinic leaders warned that rescheduling will be an operational lift. Staff began contacting patients whose appointments were canceled, and UMMC said clinics will extend hours and add extra days in the coming weeks to accommodate as many impacted patients as possible. Lafayette County residents who depend on UMMC clinics and affiliated services are included among patients the system said it will reach out to for new appointment times.

Federal investigators, including the FBI, remain involved in the ongoing probe of the cyberattack. UMMC leadership framed the disruption as both a technical and human crisis: Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs, said, “It will take some time to fully recover and to investigate this criminal attack on our network systems. This was not just an attack on UMMC; it was also an attack on our patients, students, faculty and staff, Thank you to our patients and their families for their patience as we worked diligently to restore access to the services that they need.”

Hospital and clinic officials say their next steps are operational: continue outreach to reschedule appointments, roll out extended hours as capacity allows, and cooperate with federal investigators. For Lafayette County patients with urgent needs, UMMC reiterated the triage number 601-815-0000 while call center operations normalize.