The Peru Gazette

During the week of October 25, the UVM Health Network experienced a confirmed cyberattack affecting some of our systems. While we have well-practiced standby procedures in place to continue providing safe care, the attack has caused variable impacts on services at our affiliate organizations. Please see the status updates below for information on how you may be impacted.

Quick action was taken to protect patient information, following emergency procedures. We are working with state and federal law enforcement to determine the full scope of this attack. If any personal information has been compromised, we will notify those impacted and follow established protocols.

Updated November 4th at 1:30 p.m.

UVM Medical Center – Burlington, VT

The University of Vermont Medical Center is experiencing outages across a number of systems. Impact on patients is as follows:

• Our urgent and emergency care locations are open and we encourage you to seek the care you need.
• If you need to schedule a non-urgent appointment or contact us about a non-urgent matter, we ask that you wait until this situation is resolved.

Surgeries & Procedures

• We are open for emergency care. This includes traumas that come in through the Emergency Department, as well as traumas from the region.
• We are open for other types of emergency care, such as strokes, heart attacks, and for other seriously ill adults and children.
• We are also open for other emergency surgeries on a case-by-case basis.
• Some non-urgent elective procedures have been rescheduled and affected patients have been notified.
• All patients coming in for endoscopies should bring with them a current list of medications and their pre- procedure packet to their appointment.

Outpatient (Ambulatory) Visits

• Beginning tomorrow, we will be unable to access appointment schedules and some or all patient information. If you have an appointment, please bring your medication list (or bottles), any prior after visit summary you may have from a previous appointment or a discharge summary if recently discharged from the hospital.
• Patients scheduled for the following tests should call 802-847-2864 before coming in:
  • Exercise induced bronchospasm
  • Cardiopulmonary stress test
  • Methacholine challenge

Cardiology 

• Cardiology testing appointments scheduled for November 5, 6, and 9, 2020 for Echocardiograms and Nuclear Stress Tests have been canceled.
• Appointments for Exercise Tolerance Test and Cardiac Implanted Device checks are being performed. Please call 802-847-4600 to confirm your appointments.

Oncology (Hematology Oncology, Radiation Oncology & Surgical Oncology)

• Patients coming in for cancer care should call first to confirm their appointments.

Infusion

• Shepherdson 4 Infusion: Patients please call 802-318-7527 before coming in for your appointment.

Laboratory

• Outpatient lab sites will be closed beginning November 4. Our main campus site will remain open for urgent/emergent blood draws only and you must have paper orders with you. Hours are 7am – 6pm.
• All results will be delayed.
• Urgent lab results will be communicated by phone to the ordering provider who will contact you directly.
• Positive COVID-19 test results will be communicated by phone to the ordering provider who will contact you directly. Negative results will be faxed to the ordering provider. If you need results urgently, please request that your provider call the lab customer service phone line.

Interventional Pain

• We are not currently able to do interventional pain procedures in the Interventional Pain Clinic at 62 Tilley Drive. Starting 11/5, we do not have schedules to notify patients that they should not come in for their procedures. Patients should call the clinic at 802-847-3737 with questions.

Radiology

• Breast Imaging: On Thursday, Nov. 5, breast imaging will be open on a limited basis for preventative screening mammography (all locations) and screening breast ultrasound exams (UHC/1 South Prospect ONLY). If you are scheduled for either of these exams, come to your appointment at the site scheduled. Delays are to be expected. If you are scheduled for any other breast imaging exam, please do not come in at this time unless you were contacted directly. For questions, call 802-847-3443 or 802-847-6625.
• Other Outpatient Radiology: Scans are postponed. If you are scheduled for an appointment we may not be able to access your contact information to reach you. Please do not come in. We will be in touch soon to reschedule.

Sleep Program

• We are cancelling all sleep studies at this time.

Pharmacy

• Retail, Specialty, Mail Order and Home Infusion Pharmacies are operational and offering all services.

MyChart

• There is no access to our MyChart patient portal.

Visit the UVM Medical Center Site

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Central Vermont Medical Center – Berlin, VT

Central Vermont Medical Center services remain available. Patients visiting practices and clinics should expect slightly longer wait times.

• If you have an appointment at a CVMC practice, please call the practice 24 hours in advance to confirm. This request is for all appointments starting on Thursday November 5 until further notice. To keep call volume steady and manageable, please wait until 24 hours before your appointment begins. For security purposes, we are unable to receive email at this time, so please be sure to call.
• Click here for a list of CVMC practices and phone numbers.
• There is no need to call to confirm hospital services such as surgeries, blood draw, lab and imaging, which are all unaffected by the cyberattack.

Laboratory

• If possible, please bring a written copy of your lab or imaging orders with you to our lab and diagnostic imaging departments. You will receive the written order at your clinic visit.

MyChart Patient Portal

• Access to the MyChart Patient Portal is not currently available. Please note that automated text reminders will not be sent in advance of appointments.

Visit the Central Vermont Medical Center Site

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Porter Medical Center – Middlebury, VT

Porter Medical Center services remain available. Patients visiting practices and clinics should expect slightly longer wait times.

• Our urgent and emergency care locations are open, and we encourage you to seek the care you need. No access to past patient records.
• If you have an appointment at one of our practices, please call 24 hours in advance of your appointment. To keep call volume steady and manageable, please wait until 24 hours before your appointment begins. For security purposes, email is limited at this time, so please be sure to call.
• If you have any questions about your appointment, view our list of practice locations and phone numbers.

Laboratory

• Please call your providers office before going to the Lab.

MyChart Patient Portal

• Access to the MyChart Patient Portal is not currently available.
• Please note that automated text reminders will not be sent in advance of appointments.

Visit the Porter Medical Center Site

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Home Health & Hospice – Colchester, VT

We are maintaining all in-home patient care services and all services at McClure Miller Respite House. Electronic communication with the UVM Medical Center has been disrupted by the outage and we are coordinating closely with the UVM Health Network to address this issue. Added safeguards have been put in place to protect our systems from external threats. This will not change patients’ experience or how we deliver their care, and we have not experienced any impacts to patient care services.

Visit the Home Health & Hospice Site

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Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital – Plattsburgh, NY

Our major systems are operational and all of our patient care services are available. Our physician offices are relying on computer downtime procedures – using paper methods to communicate and care for patients. This may result in slight delays.

Safeguard measures have been put in place by our IT Department to protect our systems from external threats. These measures do not affect our patients’ experience. Our focus remains on providing the care our community needs while supporting our affiliate partner, the University of Vermont Medical Center.

Visit the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital Site

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Alice Hyde Medical Center – Malone, NY

Our major systems are operational and all of our patient care services are available. Please note that our Hospital Patient Portal is down, so you will not be able to access this platform until further notice. Our Physician Practice Patient Portal remains accessible.

Electronic communication with the UVM Medical Center has been disrupted by the outage and we are coordinating closely with the UVM Health Network to address this issue. Added safeguards have been put in place to protect our systems from external threats. This will not change patients’ experience or how we deliver care. We have not experienced any impacts to patient care services.

Visit the Alice Hyde Medical Center Site

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Elizabethtown Community Hospital – Elizabethtown, NY

Our major systems are operational and all of our patient care services are available. Electronic communication with the UVM Medical Center has been disrupted by the outage and we are coordinating closely with the UVM Health Network to address this issue. Added safeguards have been put in place to protect our systems from external threats. This will not change patients’ experience or how we deliver care. We have not experienced any impacts to patient care services.

Visit the Elizabethtown Community Hospital Site