Grand Blanc — McLaren Health Care issued the following statement on Monday, Aug. 26:

“McLaren Health Care is pleased to share that its information technology platforms are restored, and the health system’s clinical and administrative operations are fully functional across Michigan following a cyberattack earlier this month. The restoration process, which was expected to last until the end of the month, was completed ahead of schedule.

“With this return to normal operations, all temporary procedures enacted during the disruption have been lifted. Providers at all McLaren Health Care hospitals, Karmanos cancer centers, and outpatient clinics again have access to patients’ electronic medical records. The process of inputting patients’ health records that were manually charted during the disruption into the electronic system began over the weekend and is expected to last several weeks.

“As clinical operations were largely maintained as McLaren clinical and IT teams progressed in their network restoration efforts, all patients and communities served by McLaren facilities are encouraged to seek care as they normally would.

• All emergency departments are open, accepting patients and receiving all conditions arriving via emergency medical service. (A complete list of locations can be found at mclaren.org/ER.)
• Patients can schedule outpatient diagnostic imaging procedures. (A complete list of locations can be found at mclaren.org/imaging.)
• Surgeries are proceeding as planned and any postponed elective surgeries have been or are currently being rescheduled.
• All radiation therapy units at Karmanos Cancer Institute facilities remain operational.
• McLaren Stroke Network is fully operational, including McLaren’s two Comprehensive Stroke Centers (McLaren Flint and McLaren Macomb).
• Primary and specialty care offices are operational, and patients can make appointments.

“McLaren Health Care leadership extends its sincere gratitude to its patients for their understanding, assistance, and patience as its teams worked tirelessly and diligently to fully restore its network. Special recognition is also owed to the extraordinary commitment, dedication, and resilience demonstrated by McLaren team members, whose exemplary efforts throughout the cyberattack have been inspiring.

“McLaren is continuing its work with cyber security experts to determine what, if any, patient or employee information was compromised. If it is determined that any protected health information (PHI) or personal information was compromised, those individuals will be contacted directly.”

An Aug. 5 cyberattack on the McLaren Health Care system led to the shutdown of computer networks and phones across the Grand Blanc-based 13-hosptial system and the implementation of “downtime” paper-based procedures that allowed McLaren staff to continue to provide patient care in a safe environment

Health Care Cyber Events Increasing Nationwide

Cyberattacks on the health care sector nearly doubled between 2022 and 2023. There are currently more than 700 active hacking cases under investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which also reports a 278 percent increase in large breaches involving ransomware from 2018 to 2022.