Hospital Pays $17,000 Ransom in Cyberattack

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles has paid a ransom worth almost $17,000 to cyberattackers, according to a statement from Allen Stefanek, president and CEO.

“It is important to note that this incident did not affect the delivery and quality of the excellent patient care you expect and receive from Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center (HPMC). Patient care has not been compromised in any way,” Stefanek said. The hospital has not found that any patient or employee information accessed, he said.

“The quickest and most efficient way to restore our systems and administrative functions was to pay the ransom and obtain the decryption key,” Stefanek said. “In the best interest of restoring normal operations, we did this.” The ransom was paid in bitcoins, and the electronic medical record system was restored on Monday.

The staff first had issues accessing the hospital’s network on Feb. 5, Stefanek said. According to published reports, the hospital staff couldn’t use electronic medical records or email. The IT staff attributed the issues to a malware attack, Stefanek said. “The malware locked access to certain computer systems and prevented us from sharing communications electronically” he said.

The cyberattack impacted the sharing of medical test results, reports said. Patient registration and other records were handled on paper. Clinicians used fax and live communication. Some patients were transferred, reports said.

The FBI is investigating.