YRMC systems still down, but are a work-in-progress

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - This past Monday, the Yuma Regional Medical System (YRMC) had its computer systems hacked.

Fortunately, the IT department caught on to it quickly.

"When we detected that there was a potential attack coming in on Monday, our team here made the choice to shut all of our systems down and remove it from the network, which would prohibit anybody from actually hacking in," Marketing and Communications Vice President Machele Headington reasoned.

The YRMC is still in "downtime mode," where the staff resorted to using pen and paper.

The variety of paper the staff uses includes print-outs, index cards, and a set of forms on every patient care unit to perform their processes manually.

As a result, doctors and medical professionals had to cancel appointments already scheduled before the hack.

"I was surprised when I showed up for my appointment this morning. They couldn't see me because they told me that the system was hacked, and the system was down," YRMC patient Lourdes Sanchez explained.

However, they are working to get the systems back online and will continue providing services to the community.