Kettering Health's radiation oncology technology is back online and treating patients, after a cyber attack on the health system's IT.
In a video on social media, Kettering Health said "what usually takes weeks to come back online, was back in just five days."
"At the end of the day, it's about lives," said Dr. Matthew Knecht, with Kettering Health radiation oncology.
Kettering Health operates 14 medical centers around southwest Ohio, with more than 15,000 employees and 1,800 physicians.
MORE: Kettering Health CEO on cyber attack: 'these events often range from 10 to 20 days'
Its system wide IT outage was reported May 20.
Kettering Health saids its hospitals, clinics and emergency departments are open while they continue to deal with the outage.
The health care provider on Tuesday asked patients to come to scheduled appointments or surgeries unless they’re called to reschedule.
Temporary contact
Kettering Health said it now has a temporary phone line for patients with urgent clinical questions, staffed by Kettering Health registered nurses. That number is (937) 600-6879.
"We would like to provide assurance that calls are getting through at this time," the system said in a statement. "However, due to the exceedingly high volume, we ask for patience as our teams work as quickly as possible to connect with each caller."
According to Kettering Health, the phone line is intended for urgent clinical needs only.
The system stated that the number is not for: questions about the ongoing technology outage, information and data security concerns, or scheduling or non-urgent appointment requests.
Additionally, Kettering Health said:
- If a patient has a scheduled appointment, plan to keep it.
- If a patient is scheduled for surgery, hospitals are reaching out directly to patients with updates.
- Need a medication refill? Current patients can bring an empty prescription bottle to the practice location, and staff will help.
- Kettering Health’s emergency departments remain open.
- Patients will not receive a text message with test results or appointment information from Kettering Health.
