St. Joseph Hospital confirms it was target of cyberattack

A “data security issue” that prompted St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor to temporarily turn off its data systems was a cyberattack, a spokesperson for the hospital confirmed on Wednesday.

Covenant Health, the parent company of St. Joseph Hospital, “became aware of irregularities impacting connectivity across the organization” on Monday, the hospital’s Chief Communications Officer Karen Sullivan said.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we immediately discontinued access to all data systems in our hospitals, clinics and provider practices,” Sullivan said. “Upon further investigation, we discovered these irregularities were the result of a cyber incident initiated by an outside group.”

The hospital system has brought in outside parties to help determine what happened and restore full system access as soon as possible, she said.

In the meantime, Sullivan said, patients are encouraged to keep all appointments and should contact their provider’s office if they have questions.