Northern Light Health's computer servers were compromised, but patient data was not at risk, health system says

Mercy Hospital of Portland, part of the Northern Light Health Network, will be seen in December 2021. Gregory Reck/Staff Photographer, File

Northern Light Health, a health care network in Maine, announced over the weekend that it discovered multiple computer servers in its systems had been compromised, but no patient information was at risk.

Northern Light said in a news release that it made the discovery Saturday afternoon and notified state and federal authorities.

“While the affected servers do not contain patient information, we have made the decision to take our patient record systems offline and utilize downtime procedures while we investigate this incident and make any necessary repairs,” Northern said. Wright Health said in a release.

“Patient care is not affected by this downtime and all Northern Light Health hospitals remain open,” the release continues. “All Northern Light Health facilities and staff are trained to prepare for network downtime to ensure system outages do not disrupt patient care.”

Suzanne Spruce, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer for Northern Light Health, told News Center Main that implementing downtime procedures simply means the network has switched from using digital records to printed records. Told.

According to its website, Northern Light Health Network includes 10 hospitals from Portland to Presque Isle and Blue Hill to Greenville. Mercy Hospital, located on Fore River Parkway in Portland, is part of a medical network, along with Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and several rural hospitals in northern Maine.

Spruce told News Center of Maine that “several hours” passed after the server was discovered to have been compromised before the downtime mode was activated.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we made the decision to take all sensitive information systems, including electronic medical records, offline while we investigate this incident,” Northern Light Health said in a statement.

Reached Sunday night, Spruce said he could not estimate how long the patient record system would remain offline. She also said there were “no demands or threats” from the person who broke into the computer server.

Northern Light Health did not elaborate on the type of information that may have been targeted. Spruce said the digital records freeze affected all 10 hospitals across Maine.

Spruce said in an email late Sunday that its information technology team worked around the clock over the weekend to conduct a thorough review of Northern Light servers. The review was scheduled to begin Sunday night and continue into Monday, with the hope that electronic medical records would be back online at some point Monday.

“This is a major undertaking, and our constant focus is on patient safety and privacy,” Spruce wrote.

Northern Light Health is advising patients not to reschedule appointments scheduled for Monday unless contacted directly. However, the system warned that the call volume is expected to be higher than usual on Monday, so calling the hospital may be more difficult than usual.

Updated information on the situation can be found on the system's website at northernlighthealth.org/news. Northern Light said information will continue to be shared there until all systems are restored.

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