{"id":14042,"date":"2026-03-05T19:29:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/?p=14042"},"modified":"2026-03-05T19:29:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:29:34","slug":"cyberattack-impacts-university-of-mississippi-medical-center-operations-and-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/2026\/03\/05\/cyberattack-impacts-university-of-mississippi-medical-center-operations-and-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyberattack impacts University of Mississippi Medical Center operations and patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

Danielle Graves
\n<\/span>Staff Writer\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>University of Mississippi Medical Center<\/b><\/a>,\u00a0<\/b>the state’s major academic hospital, announced a major ransomware cyberattack discovered on Feb. 19. The attack forced the closure of 35 statewide clinics and triggered a shift to paper records.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a post via Facebook, the statement read:<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to a cybersecurity attack, many UMMC IT systems are down, including access to our electronic medical records, Epic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, all UMMC clinic locations statewide are closed. Outpatient and ambulatory surgeries\/procedures and imaging appointments are cancelled and will be rescheduled. Hospital services are continuing for our patients using downtime procedures.<\/span><\/p>\n

We apologize for this unexpected disruption, and we will provide further updates as information is available.<\/span><\/p>\n

The announcement had hospital employees and patients on edge, many fearing the release of sensitive and financial information. This cyberattack compromised hospital operations. Employees received immediate notice of the attack and were given specific instructions on protocol.<\/span><\/p>\n

AWARE Project Director Erica Cattenhead, a UMMC employee who works under the Center for the Advancement of Youth (CAY) within the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at UMMC, had this to say about the cyberattack.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I was informed by senior leadership of an active attack, soon after our UMMC alert was blasted. We were given advisement and soon after our email stopped working. At this point, phones and other platforms may have already been shut down to prevent further breaches.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The magnitude of this attack paused services for several clinics and partnering institutions that provide care to their patients. This inconvenience left some patients unsure of how this attack would affect future services.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aaron Walker, a WJTV 12 News Senior Producer and JSU Alum, was one of the patients affected by the cyberattack.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The cyberattack at UMMC was frustrating and concerning. My doctor’s appointment on Feb. 24 was cancelled due to the cyberattack. I feel when you’re dealing with your health, you need reliability and communication, and that disruption made things stressful. Moving forward, I think hospitals need stronger cybersecurity protections, regular system upgrades, and better backup plans so patient care isn’t interrupted. Healthcare systems are critical infrastructure, and protecting patient information and access to care has to be a top priority,” said Walker.<\/span><\/p>\n

The hospital’s systems were back up and running on March 2. In an update on social media, the reopening announcement read:<\/span><\/p>\n

We continue to make progress in restoring our systems and getting closer to full functions following last week’s cyberattack.<\/span><\/p>\n

We can access patient records, so UMMC clinics statewide will resume normal operations and scheduled appointments on Monday, March 2. Also on Monday, clinics will begin reaching out to patients to reschedule appointments that were cancelled. Clinics will be open extended hours and extra days to accommodate patients as soon as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

All our hospitals and emergency departments remain open. If you have a time-sensitive need, like a prescription refill or postoperative care, call the UMMC Triage Line at 601-815-0000.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you for your patience and understanding.<\/span><\/p>\n

All operations resumed normal operations on Monday, March 2 as announced.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bonnie Jackson, a Hazlehurst, Miss. resident and former JSU Professor, hopes the security of patient records is taken more seriously.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The cyberattack affected me as a patient because I had a tracking appointment that I only get once every three months.\u00a0 Now it will be four to six months\u00a0before I get another appointment. That means that I\u00a0do not know the status of my condition. I can only imagine what that means for people who are who are deathly ill or who were who needed it immediate attention,” said Jackson.<\/span><\/p>\n

She added, “I am concerned about the lack of security in a digital world.\u00a0 Institutions\u00a0at that level should have double layers of security because they are life or death institutions.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stay tuned for more updates on this developing situation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Danielle Graves Staff Writer\u00a0 The University of Mississippi Medical Center,\u00a0the state’s major academic hospital, announced a major ransomware cyberattack discovered on Feb. 19. The attack forced the closure of 35 statewide clinics and triggered a shift to paper records. In a post via Facebook, the statement read: Due to a cybersecurity attack, many UMMC IT […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14042","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured-story","8":"category-campus-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14044,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14042\/revisions\/14044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}