Kettering Health said in a statement on Wednesday evening that all its emergency departments are fully operational.
The ERs are now off diversion, which means Kettering Health is accepting both walk-in patients and those transported by first responders.
“This is another great milestone in our recovery process. Our teams have worked incredibly hard to bring imaging up, so we could end diversion in our emergency departments,” John Weimer, Kettering Health leader for incident command, said in a statement.
The hospital network, which operates 14 medical centers in the region, has been recovering from a system-wide IT outage that started May 20.
The health care provider has asked patients to come to scheduled appointments or surgeries unless they’re called to reschedule.
Kettering Health has also started to have walk-in availability at all of its primary care practices, for established patients, to help in the interim.
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.
