Cape Girardeau, Mo.-based Saint Francis Healthcare System began notifying patients Nov. 20 about a ransomware attack at the system's Ferguson Medical Group.
The September cyberattack was on the computer network that Ferguson Medical Group used prior to being acquired by Saint Francis. As a result, physicians were unable to access medical records prior to Jan. 1.
Saint Francis declined to pay the ransom. Instead, officials took immediate steps to secure the network and restore its system. With the help of backup files, Saint Francis has been able to restore most of the affected records.
However, any records that were taken between Sept. 20, 2018, and Dec. 31, 2018, and all documents that were scanned into the Ferguson Medical Group system were unable to be restored.
Saint Francis does not believe the ransomware attack exposed any patient information. There has been no evidence that patient information has been misused.