Ascension president addresses UN on cyberattacks

Ascension president addresses UN on cyberattacks 
Becker's Hospital Review; by Kristin Kuchno; 11/11/24 
Eduardo Conrado, president of St. Louis-based Ascension, discussed the health system's May ransomware attack at a Nov. 8 United Nations Security Council meeting. The council met to discuss strategies for countering cyberattacks in healthcare, according to a Nov. 8 news release from the U.N. Ascension's response to the May 8 ransomware attack cost the health system approximately $130 million. The attack forced its hospitals and clinics off its EHR system and disrupted key diagnostic services, including MRIs and CT scans. ... "Overnight, nurses were unable to quickly look up patient records from the computer stations and were forced to comb through paper back-ups for patient medical history and medications," Mr. Conrado said at the meeting.  ... A comprehensive approach is key, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, director-general of the World Health Organization, told the U.N. "Countries should invest not only in technologies for detecting and mitigating cyberattacks but in training staff to respond to them," he added ...