UVM Health Network still figuring cost of ransomware attack
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Officials at Vermont’s largest hospital are still trying to determine the full financial impact of the cyberattack last October that knocked out computers affecting three hospitals in Vermont and three in New York.
Scheduling and patient medical records were affected, and some cancer patients faced delays in treatment. It took months for the University of Vermont Health Network to recover from the attack, estimated to cost upwards of $63 million.
In New York, the UVM Health Network includes Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh, Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone and Elizabethtown Community Hospital.
The network is insured for $30 million, and officials are continuing to negotiate with the insurance companies, but the final cost will exceed the coverage, WCAX-TV reported.
The FBI is still investigating the origins of the attack.
Kevin Mullin, the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, which approves Vermont hospital budgets, commended the UVM Health Network for its quick response to the attack and said the board will take into account the cost of preventing such attacks in future budgeting processes.
“We’ll be asking other hospitals what other measures they’ve taken, what insurance policies do they have, what steps has their (information technology) department taken to mitigate the damage of an attack?” Mullin said.