University of Mississippi Medical Center reopens clinics after ransomware disruption

The University of Mississippi Medical Center reopened clinics across the state and began contacting patients to reschedule appointments after a ransomware attack that took down its electronic health record system and disrupted phone and email services. Hospital officials said patient records access has been restored and clinics will operate extended hours and extra days to make up missed visits.

UMMC said in a statement that it regained access to records and that clinics "will resume normal operations and scheduled appointments on Monday." In another message the health system said, "Clinics will be open extended hours and extra days to accommodate patients as soon as possible. All our hospitals and emergency departments remain open." At a press briefing 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."

The intrusion forced UMMC to take its Epic electronic health record offline and to restrict access to phone and email for parts of its network. Clinic operations were the hardest hit; the system canceled outpatient procedures, ambulatory surgeries and imaging appointments while staff relied on downtime procedures to keep hospitals and emergency departments functioning. Officials emphasized that inpatient care and emergency services in Jackson, Grenada, Madison County and Holmes County remained open throughout the disruption.

UMMC officials said the Division of Information Systems worked around the clock to restore services. Phone lines and internet were restored in stages, and UMMC said patients will regain access to MyChart when the electronic record comes fully online. The health system also said its triage line will remain available for several days as call-center operations transition back to normal staffing.

Federal authorities have been brought in to investigate. UMMC is cooperating with the FBI and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in an ongoing probe. Hospital officials disclosed to reporters that they had been in contact with the attackers, though no ransomware group has publicly claimed responsibility and investigators have not disclosed an attribution.

Timing and duration of the outage were reported differently in institution statements. In one account the system described the disruption as a nine-day ordeal; other institution communications tied the incident to a Feb. 19 attack and characterized the reopening as coming 11 days later. Officials asked patients to wait for direct outreach from clinics and to check MyChart once electronic records are confirmed online.

For patients, the immediate consequence is practical: expect calls to reschedule appointments and longer clinic hours to clear a backlog. UMMC advised that its call center will resume regular operations as lines come fully back online and urged patience as staff work through rescheduling and the investigation into the criminal intrusion.