NORTHAMPTON — A network outage that disrupted computer systems across the Mass General Brigham system on Thursday, including at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, was fixed and operations were back to normal Friday, according to CDH President and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Whitney.
The outage, which started around noon on Thursday, was not linked to a cyber attack, but the disruption caused some computers and devices to go offline, a MGB spokesperson said.
Most systems were back up and running Thursday evening, and a few computer issues were addressed Friday morning. The exact cause is still unclear, hospital officials said.
“Patient care has continued except for some elective outpatient procedures. All sites have begun bringing systems back online and returning to normal operations, and that work will continue overnight,” a statement from the hospital said late Thursday.
During the network outage, the hospital resorted to old school means in place of computers, including using paper forms and alternative ways of communication, said hospital spokesperson Kelly Mitchell. She said processes for updating electronic records are in place once systems are restored.
“While we are assessing our digital systems, our hospitals and care teams have moved to established downtime procedures while we work to resolve the issue,” MGB said in a statement.
MGB is comprised of 14 hospitals and treats 2 million people annually.
